''Clypeostoma cecileae'', also known as Cécile’s top shell, 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 ...

Chilodontaidae Chilodontaidae is a taxonomic family of mostly small deepwater sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Vetigastropoda (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005). Taxonomy The family was previously in ...

.MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Clypeostoma cecileae (Poppe, Tagaro & Dekker, 2006). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=986596 on 2021-12-28 It is a newly discovered member of

Clypeostoma ''Clypeostoma'' is a genus of mostly small deep water sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Chilodontaidae.Bouchet, P. (2012). ''Clypeostoma'' Herbert, 2012. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species The World Registe ...

, first described in the year 2006.

Description

The height of the

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 Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

is around 4.7 to 6 mm (0.19 to 0.236 inches). The shell carries a colour variation of cream to yellow, starting with cream at the top. Brown variation speckles may vary in number in every shell, depending on the Clypeostoma cecileae’s

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

. The shell’s inner walls are the outer walls’ colour but with a little bit more of silver. However, the dullness of colour is different in every shell, because it is, once again, dependant on the Clypeostoma cecileae’s

Distribution

This marine species occurs off the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

References

* Poppe G.T., Tagaro S.P. & Dekker H. (2006) The Seguenziidae, Chilodontidae, Trochidae, Calliostomatidae and Solariellidae of the Philippine Islands. Visaya Supplement 2: 1-228 * Vilvens, C. (2017). New species and new records of Chilodontidae (Gastropoda: Vetigastropoda: Seguenzioidea) from the Pacific Ocean. Novapex, Hors Série. 11: 1-67.

External links

* cecileae Gastropods described in 2006 {{Chilodontaidae-stub