''Benthofascis lozoueti'' is a species of

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 ...

Conorbidae Conorbidae is a monophyletic family of small to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea.Tucker J.K. & Tenorio M.J. (2009) Systematic classification of Recent and fossil conoidean gastropods. Hackenheim: Co ...

.WoRMS (2015). Benthofascis lozoueti Sysoev & Bouchet, 2001. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://marinespecies.org/aphia.php/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=433133 on 2016-07-21 These snails are

predatory Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...

and

venomous Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

. They are capable of "stinging" humans, therefore live ones should be handled carefully or not at all.

Description

The length of an adult shell attains 21.5 mm, its diameter 9.1 mm.

Distribution

This marine species is endemic to the

Norfolk Ridge The Norfolk Ridge (Norfolk Island Ridge, Norfolk Rise, South New Caledonia Ridge) is a long submarine ridge running between New Caledonia and New Zealand, about off the east-coast of Australia. It is part of a complex region of ridges between ...

and found at a depth of 530 m; also off

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

References

* Sysoev A. & Bouchet P. (2001) ''New and uncommon turriform gastropods (Gastropoda: Conoidea) from the South-West Pacific''. In: P. Bouchet & B.A. Marshall (eds), Tropical Deep-Sea Benthos, volume 22. Mémoires du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle 185: 271–320. page(s): 290 *

External links

*
Bouchet, Philippe, et al. "A quarter-century of deep-sea malacological exploration in the South and West Pacific: where do we stand? How far to go." Tropical deep-sea Benthos 25 (2008): 9-40

Holotype at the MNHN, Paris
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benthofascis lozoueti lozoueti