''Inodrillia nucleata'' 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

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 ...

mollusk in the family

Horaiclavidae Horaiclavidae is a family of predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea. In 2011 this family was split off from the family Pseudomelatomidae (formerly the subfamily Crassispirinae McLean, 1971) by Bouchet P., Ka ...

. It was previously included within the family

Turridae Turridae is a taxonomic family name for a number of predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea. MolluscaBase (2018). Turridae H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853 (1838). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Specie ...

Description

The length of the shell attains 13.5 mm, its diameter 5 mm. (Original description) The shell is polished, waxy white and contains seven or eight

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. The white,

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 ...

is disproportionately large, smooth at first, shining, very obtuse. The second whorl shows about fifteen rather sharp transverse ridges parallel with the axis, and not flexuous. These pass gradually into slightly oblique, rounded riblets, which begin in front of the notch-band with a slight shoulder, then continue across the whorl, and are somewhat attenuated by the time they reach the suture. Of these there are about fifteen 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 ...

, less distinct anteriorly. The lines of growth are tolerably prominent, and especially so on the body whorl. Of the revolving sculpture there is little or none. A few microscopic revolving striae are perceptible in some places, especially on the surface of the rather broad notch-band. The suture is appressed. The shouldering of the riblets gives the upper whorls a rather inflated appearance. The aperture is short and wide. The notch is deep, with its edges turned up and a little twisted. 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 ...

is short, wide, slightly reflected, showing on the columella a distinct fasciole. The columella is straight, with a distinct callus upon it and also upon the body whorl. The outer lip is thin-edged, produced and rounded.Dall, W. H. 1881. Reports on the results of dredging, under the supervision of Alexander Agassiz, in the Gulf of Mexico, and in the Caribbean Sea, 1877-79, by the United States Coast Survey Steamer 'Blake,'. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 9: 33–144
(described as ''Pleurotoma (Drillia) nucleata'')

Distribution

This marine species occurs off East Florida, the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and e ...

, USA, and off Cuba

References

Challenger Expedition, Report on the scientific results of the voyage of H.M.S. Challenger; Zoology v. 15 pt. 41-43, 1886
(described as ''Clionella amblia'' R.B. Watson, 1882)

External links

Rosenberg G., Moretzsohn F. & García E. F. (2009). ''Gastropoda (Mollusca) of the Gulf of Mexico'', Pp. 579–699 in Felder, D.L. and D.K. Camp (eds.), Gulf of Mexico–Origins, Waters, and Biota. Biodiversity. Texas A&M Press, College Station, Texas

Tucker, J.K. 2004 ''Catalog of recent and fossil turrids (Mollusca: Gastropoda)''. Zootaxa 682:1–1295
{{DEFAULTSORT:Inodrillia Nucleata nucleata