''Choristella leptalea'' 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 ...

Choristellidae Choristellidae is a family of gastropods in the superfamily Seguenzioidea Seguenzioidea is a superfamily of minute to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Vetigastropoda.Gofas, S. (2010). Seguenzioidea. In: Bouchet, ...

Description

Distribution

This marine species occurs in the Atlantic Ocean off

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

, USA.

Description

The maximum recorded

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

length is 4 mm.Welch J. J. (2010). "The "Island Rule" and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". '' PLoS ONE'' 5(1): e8776. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008776. The dull opaque white shell lacks any

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 ...

. It has a very delicate texture. The shell is a flattened little elevated spire. It consists of 3½

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 with a large body whorl. The suture is very deep, somewhat channeled. The small

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 ...

is round and deep. The nearly circular

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 oblique. The simple peritreme is continuous, slightly attached to the body whorl and reflected over the umbilicus. The thin operculum is round-ovate and has a delicate horn color. Choristella leptalea radula

The

radula The radula (, ; plural radulae or radulas) is an anatomical structure used by molluscs for feeding, sometimes compared to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food ...

contains numerous rows of delicate colored, rather stout, non-serrate teeth, with thirteen in each row. The radula shows a very small central or median tooth with rather long, strongly curved tip, placed a little above and alternating somewhat with the rest of the series; on either side, one broad strongly hooked lateral, and a much broader second lateral one with correspondingly broad, more pointed hook; beyond, three, about equal, much narrower, somewhat sickle-shaped, marginal ones with a small triangular, scarcely perceptible, platelike one on the outer edge. The animal has a broad emarginate head with one pair of long slender

tentacle In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work main ...

s. It has a rather broad, short, tapered, ciliated verge just beneath the base of the right one. There are no eyes. The

gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they ar ...

attached to the left side lies across the top of the body just within the mantle edge. The jaw plates are thin. They have a delicate horn-color with a broad band of very dark brown along the strongly serrate, cutting edges. The inner surface is strongly reticulated. The form of these plates is quite irregular: the cutting edge is oblique, forming an angle of about 135° with the inner or middle, straight edge; the distal outline is very strongly sinuously curved, forming a wide, shallow upper portion and a much narrower basal portion.Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, vol. 10, 1899–1900
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Habitat

Minimum recorded depth is 713 m. Maximum recorded depth is 1481 m.

References

* McLean J.H. (1992). ''Systematic review of the family Choristellidae (Archeogastropoda: Lepetellacea) with descriptions of new species.'' The Veliger 35(4): 273-294

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Choristella Leptalea Choristellidae Gastropods described in 1897