''Callostracon amabile'' 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 ...

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

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 ...

Acteonidae Acteonidae, common name the "barrel bubble snails", is a family of small sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks of the informal group Lower Heterobranchia.Bouchet, P. (2012). Acteonidae. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http: ...

Description

The small, ovate shell is white. The

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 ...

s are flattened, 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 subscalar, 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 very blunt, the smallish

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 pear-shaped and there is a very slight tooth on 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 ...

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 ...

: Longitudinals: there are very faint hair-like lines of growth. Spirals: there are 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 ...

about 20, on the penultimate whorl about 8 rather strong and equal furrows stippled with roundish oval pits. They become more crowded and weaker toward the middle of the base. Just below the suture the first furrow is minutely and slightly beaded, and it with the next one or two is strong and these are crowded. The flat surface which parts them is somewhat broader than the furrows. The color of the shell is translucent and subglossy white. The spire is conical, high and scarcely scalar. The apex is blunt and truncated. The extreme tip is a very little inverted. The shell contains five whorls, very slightly shouldered just below the suture. Round the top there is a very feeble constriction. Below this the whorl is conical, and in profile flat on the sides. The body whorl is a very little tumid with a produced base. The suture is very little oblique, strongish and well marked, but not channelled. The aperture is pear-shaped, pointed above, a little oblique in direction, patulous or very slightly guttered in front of the columellar point. 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 straight and parallel to the axis, and a little contracted above, arched and patulous in front. The inner lip is slightly convex on the body, on which there is a thin but distinct glaze with a defined edge. There is a slight angulation at the junction of the body and the columella, near the top of which is a very faint tooth amounting to no more than a slight swelling. The columella itself is very slightly oblique, and is straight, narrow with a sharp edge behind which is a very slight and shallow furrow.G.W. Tryon, (1893) - Manual of conchology, structural and systematic : with illustrations of the species ser;1 vol. 15; Philadelphia, Published by the Author, Academy of Natural Sciences, 1879-1898

Distribution

This marine species occurs off

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

References

External links

Watson, R. B. (1886). Report on the Scaphopoda and Gasteropoda collected by H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873-76. Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873–76. Zoology 15 (part 42): 1-756, pls 1-50

Gofas, S.; Luque, Á. A.; Templado, J.; Salas, C. (2017). A national checklist of marine Mollusca in Spanish waters. Scientia Marina. 81(2) : 241-254, and supplementary online material

Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca. in: Costello, M.J. et al. (eds), European Register of Marine Species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Patrimoines Naturels. 50: 180-213
{{Taxonbar, from=Q13450280 amabile Gastropods described in 1883