''Cingulina spina'' 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 ...

Pyramidellidae Pyramidellidae, common name the pyram family, or pyramid shells, is a voluminous taxonomic family of mostly small and minute ectoparasitic sea snails, marine heterobranch gastropod molluscs. The great majority of species of pyrams are micromol ...

, the pyrams and their allies.Rosenberg, G. (2011). ''Cingulina spina'' (Crosse & Fischer, 1864). Accessed through:

World Register of Marine Species The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...

at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=588320 on 2011-11-29

Description

The white shell has a length of approximately 9 mm. The numerous

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 of the

teleoconch The gastropod shell is part of the body of many gastropods, including snails, a kind of mollusc. The shell is an exoskeleton, which protects from predators, mechanical damage, and dehydration, but also serves for muscle attachment and calcium ...

are flattened, with scarcely a distinct suture. They are encircled by three spiral ribs, four 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 ...

, the lower part of which is smooth. G.W. Tryon, Manual of Conchology vol. VIII p. 338

Distribution

This species' distribution ranges from the northernmost existing specimens located within the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

Gulf of Oman The Gulf of Oman or Sea of Oman ( ''khalīj ʿumān''; ''daryâ-ye omân''), also known as Gulf of Makran or Sea of Makran ( ''khalīj makrān''; ''daryâ-ye makrān''), is a gulf in the Indian Ocean that connects the Arabian Sea with th ...

and the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

, to as far south as the South West Cape, Tasmania's southernmost point of land and off various coasts situated on the geographical exterior of the largest island in the world,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

References

* Melvill, J.C. & Standen, R. (1901). ''The Mollusca of the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea, as evidenced mainly through the collections of Mr F.W. Townsend, 1893-1900; with descriptions of new species. Part 1. Cephalopoda, Gastropoda, Scaphopoda''. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 2 (1): 327-460, pls. 21-24 * May, W.L. (1923). ''An Illustrated Index of Tasmanian Shells''. Hobart : Government Printer. 100 pp. * Cotton, B.C. & Godfrey, F.K. (1932). ''South Australian Shells''. Part 6. South Australian Naturalist. 14 (1): 16-44 * Saurin, E. (1961). ''Pyramidellidae du Golfe de Thailande''. Annales de la Faculté des Sciences de Saigon. (1961): 231-266, pl. 1-5 * Iredale, T. & McMichael, D. F. (1962). ''A reference list of the marine Mollusca of New South Wales''. The Australian Museum, Sydney, Memoir. 11 : 1-185

External links

World Register of Marine Species
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5120939 Pyramidellidae Gastropods described in 1864