''Calliotropis aeglees'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

of sea snail, a marine gastropod

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is es ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Eucyclidae Eucyclidae is a family of gastropods in the superfamily Seguenzioidea (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005). This family has no subfamilies. Genera Genera within the family Eucyclidae include: * '' Amberl ...

Description

The shell grows to a length of 7.6 mm. The high shell has a broadly conical shape. The color of the shell is pure white when weathered, but apparently slightly brownish when fresh, with a pearly nacre below the thin calcareous surface layer. The shell has a very large

umbilicus Umbilicus may refer to: *The navel or belly button *Umbilicus (mollusc), a feature of gastropod, Nautilus and Ammonite shell anatomy * ''Umbilicus'' (plant), a genus of over ninety species of perennial flowering plants *Umbilicus urbis Romae The ...

. It is carinated and ornamented with rows of tubercles. There is a row of small round pointed tubercles a little below the suture. The carina is double, formed by two rather remote tubercled threads, the lower of which runs to the outer

lip The lips are the visible body part at the mouth of many animals, including humans. Lips are soft, movable, and serve as the opening for food intake and in the articulation of sound and speech. Human lips are a tactile sensory organ, and can be ...

. Below this one is a broadish furrow and slightly beaded thread, which toward the mouth projects so as to become a third carina. The center of the base has another slightly beaded thread. There is another formed of remote rounded tubercles, defining the umbilicus, within which is a very slight furrow and an ill-defined ridge. The apical

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). Whorls in nature File:Photograph and axial plane flo ...

s are ribbed, but the ribs gradually break into the scarcely connected tubercles of the body whorl. The lines of growth are hardly perceptible, except on the base. 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. Spires are ...

is high and very slightly scalar. The sharp apex is minute, flattened on the one side, with the very small embryonic 1¼

rising sharply on the other. The spire contains 7 whorls, that increase in size regularly. The body whorl is small, from the large part of it cut out by the umbilicus. The whorls are flatly conical and slightly scalar. The suture is linear, but strongly defined by the right-angled junction of the whorl. The oblique

aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An ...

is much inclined to the axial line, and rectangularly rounded. The

columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (; Arabic: , 4 – ) was a prominent writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His ' in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture, together with the ...

and outer

are parallel. The outer lip is thin and broken, not descending. The inner lip is shortly but flatly bent over the umbilicus, and here it is patulous and sinuated, it then advances in a straight line toward the base. It is toothed in the middle by a strongish spiral protuberance at which point it projects. But from this to the junction with the base it is thin and retreats. The umbilicus is very large, funnel-shaped and pervious.Tryon (1889), Manual of Conchology XI, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia
(described as ''Solariella aeglees'')

Distribution

This species is occurs in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United S ...

and off

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

References

* Rosenberg, G., F. Moretzsohn, and E. F. García. 2009. ''Gastropoda (Mollusca) of the Gulf of Mexico'', pp. 579–699 in Felder, D.L. and D.K. Camp (eds.), Gulf of Mexico–Origins, Waters, and Biota. Biodiversity. Texas A&M Press, College Station, Texas

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q5022583 aeglees Gastropods described in 1879