''Cossmannica aciculata'' 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 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

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 ...

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 micr ...

, the pyrams and their allies.Rosenberg, G. (2011). ''Cossmannica aciculata'' A. Adams, 1854. 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 list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scientific speciali ...

at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=588554 on 2011-11-29

Description

The elongate-conic shell tapers to an extremely slender

apex The apex is the highest point of something. The word may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional entities * Apex (comics), a teenaged super villainess in the Marvel Universe * Ape-X, a super-intelligent ape in the Squadron Supreme universe *Apex, ...

. The polished shell is white, with a slight suffusion of brown at the apex and near the

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 ...

. Its length measures 17.3 mm. The two

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 of the

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 calle ...

are large, compared with the early whorls of the teleoconch, helicoid, depressed, smooth, having their axis almost at a right angle to the axis of the later whorls and extending beyond the outline of these on the left side. The first three whorls of the

teleoconch The gastropod shell is part of the body of a gastropod or snail, 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 storage. So ...

are well rounded, the next five considerably flattened, the seven others decidedly obese. The first five are vitreous, but as the shell grows older it gradually becomes milk-white. The summits of the whorls are closely appressed to the preceding whorl, the appressed portion appearing as a narrow band, which at first sight appears as the suture. This, however, is very inconspicuous. All the whorls of the teleoconch are marked by fine lines of growth and fine, closely placed, wavy spiral striations. The periphery and the base of the body whorl are well rounded. They are marked by lines of growth and spiral striations as between the sutures. The area immediately adjoining the

columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (; Arabic: , 4 – ) was a prominent writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His ' in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture, together with the ...

is decidedly depressed, forming a pit, but the axis is not perforate. The aperture is auriform, moderately large, and oblique. The posterior angle is acute, slightly channeled at the junction of the outer lip and columella. The columella is rather strong, very oblique, revolute showing only the lamellar posterior fold when the lip is complete. This fold is situated a little anterior to the insertion of the columella. The parietal wall is covered by a decided callus. Specimens having the outer lip fractured show the well-developed, very oblique anterior fold, also seven spiral lirations all of which but the anterior one, which is stronger, are subequal and subequally spaced.W.H. Dall & P. Bartsch (1904), ''Notes on Japanese, Indo-Pacific, and American Pyramidellidae''; Smithsonian Institution, Proceeding of U.S. National Museum, vol XXX, no. 1452, p. 326

Distribution

This marine species has a wide distribution. It occurs off the coasts of Japan, the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost ...

and the shires situated throughout

Northern Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its tropical northern part has been ...

, Australia.

References

* Higo, S., Callomon, P. & Goto, Y. (1999). ''Catalogue and bibliography of the marine shell-bearing Mollusca of Japan''. Osaka. : Elle Scientific Publications. 749 pp. * CF Laseron (1959), ''The Family Pyramidellidae (Mollusca) from Northern Australia''; Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 10(2) 177 - 268;

External links

World Register of Marine Species
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q5174718 Pyramidellidae Gastropods described in 1854