''Asthelys munda'' is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

sea snail Sea snails are slow-moving marine (ocean), marine gastropod Mollusca, molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the Taxonomic classification, taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguishe ...

, a marine

gastropod Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...

mollusk Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Seguenziidae Seguenziidae is a family (biology), family of very small deepwater sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Seguenzioidea (according to the Taxonomy of the Gastropoda (Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005), taxonomy of the Gastr ...

. This species is spelled as ''Asthelys mundus'' in CLEMAM.CLEMAM: ''Asthelys mundus''
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Description

(Original description by Watson) The height of the shell attains 3.3 mm. The shell is broadly conical, flat on the base, and sharply angulated. It is small, thin, delicate, smooth, glossy, and nacreous under a thin white calcareous surface.

Sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

: There are longitudinals, which are very faint but still sharp, sinuated, showing the old lines of growth. There are over the whole surface very faint traces of spirals. At the bottom of each

whorl A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). In nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral diagra ...

, about 0.25 mm. above the suture, is a sharp narrow thread, which on the

body whorl The body whorl is part of the morphology (biology), morphology of the gastropod shell, shell in those gastropod mollusks that possess a coiled shell. The term is also sometimes used in a similar way to describe the shell of a cephalopod mollusk ...

is bordered below by a second, rather higher and sharper, which forms the carina, and which on the

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

is buried by the overlap of the succeeding whorl. On the base of the shell there are about eleven fine spirals, within which is a strong furrow, and a projecting, crenulated, or ropelike thread forming the edge of the umbilicus. The colour of the shell is opalescent, from the underlying

nacre Nacre ( , ), also known as mother-of-pearl, is an organicinorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer. It is also the material of which pearls are composed. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent. Nacre is ...

shining through the polished, thin, translucent calcareous layer of the surface. The spire is high and conical. The

apex The apex is the highest point of something. The word may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional entities * Apex (comics) A-Bomb Abomination Absorbing Man Abraxas Abyss Abyss is the name of two characters appearing in Ameri ...

is flattened, with the minute smooth embryonic 1½ whorl slightly projecting. The 6

s show a regular and slow increase (but the specimen is not full-grown). The spire is perfectly flat, the slope being scarcely broken by the suprasutural thread. The suture is linear, almost invisible. The

aperture In optics, the aperture of an optical system (including a system consisting of a single lens) is the hole or opening that primarily limits light propagated through the system. More specifically, the entrance pupil as the front side image o ...

is perpendicular, irregularly rectangular, broader than high. The outer

lip The lips are a horizontal pair of soft appendages attached to the jaws and are the most visible part of the mouth of many animals, including humans. Mammal lips are soft, movable and serve to facilitate the ingestion of food (e.g. sucklin ...

is sharp and thin, with a slight open sinus. It is sharply angled at the periphery, slightly arched across the base, apparently nicked at the point of the

columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (, Arabic: ) was a prominent Roman writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture and ancient Roman cuisin ...

. The inner lip is arched, strengthened by a thin pad, reverted on the umbilicus so as to leave a groove behind it, with a slight tooth in front. From the body it bends very much over to the left, so as largely to cover the umbilicus. It then advances straight and is toothed in front. The umbilicus is small, oblique-edged, with a crenulated margin (described as ''Basilissa munda'').

Distribution

This marine species occurs in European waters off the Canary Islands.

References

* Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). ''European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification''. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 180–213

External links

Serge GOFAS, Ángel A. LUQUE, Joan Daniel OLIVER, José TEMPLADO & Alberto SERRA (2021) - The Mollusca of Galicia Bank (NE Atlantic Ocean); European Journal of Taxonomy 785: 1–114

Natural History Museum, London (NHM): Collections Management Database System
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3172926

munda __NOTOC__ Munda may refer to: Places India * Munda, a village in Hanumangarh district, Rajasthan, India * Munda Majra, a former village in Haryana, India * Munda Pind, a village in Punjab, India Pakistan * Munda, a village near Bilyamin in Kur ...

Gastropods described in 1879