''Comitas pagodaeformis'' is a species of

sea snail Sea snail is a common name for slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the ...

, a

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusc 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 esti ...

in the family

Pseudomelatomidae Pseudomelatomidae is a family of predatory sea snails, marine gastropods included in the superfamily Conoidea (previously Conacea) and part of the Neogastropoda ( Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005). In 1995 Kantor elevated the subfamily Pseudomelatomina ...

, the turrids and allies.MolluscaBase (2018). Comitas pagodaeformis (Schepman, 1913). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=433360 on 14 June 2018

Description

The length of the shell attains 28.5 mm, its diameter 8 mm. (Original description) The moderately solid shell has an elongately fusiform, shape. It is light yellowish-brown, lighter on the

siphonal canal The siphonal canal is an anatomical feature of the shells of certain groups of sea snails within the clade Neogastropoda. Some sea marine gastropods have a soft tubular anterior extension of the mantle called a siphon through which water is ...

. it contains about 11

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 floral ...

s, of which about 1½ form a smooth, inflated, laterally inclined

protoconch A protoconch (meaning first or earliest or original shell) is an embryonic or larval shell which occurs in some classes of molluscs, e.g., the initial chamber of an ammonite or the larval shell of a gastropod. In older texts it is also called ...

. The subsequent whorls are angular, very convex, separated by a linear, undulated suture, accompanied by a faint infrasutural rib, more conspicuous on upper whorls . The upper part of whorls is conspicuously excavated, the lower part contains strong, short, nodulous, oblique ribs, abruptly ending at the excavation, scarcely reaching the basal suture in the lower whorls. There are 3 faint, raised, spiral lirae in the excavation, crossed by elegantly curved, partly riblike striae, 4 to 5 stronger lirae crossing the ribs, with a few faint striae above them on the limit between ribs and excavation in the lower whorls. On the penultimate whorl, another liration appears at some distance above the suture, amounting to 3 rather remote, strong lirae on the

body whorl The body whorl is part of the morphology of the 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. In gastropods In gastropods, the b ...

, and a large number (about 20) on the basal part of the body whorl and siphonal canal. The body whorl is strongly attenuated below, ending in a long, slightly curved siphonal canal. The aperture is ovate, probably with a rather wide, deep sinus (the peristome is broken). The columellar margin is concave above, strongly contorted below, with a thin layer of enamel.Schepman, 1913. The prosobranchia of the Siboga expedition. Part IV -V - VI: Toxoglossa

Distribution

This marine species occurs in the Banda Sea, Indonesia.

References

External links

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Biolib.cz: Comitas pagodaeformis
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3721909 pagodaeformis Gastropods described in 1913