''Leptoconchus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of medium-sized

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 ...

s, 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 ...

s in the family

Muricidae Muricidae is a large and varied taxonomic family of small to large predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks, commonly known as murex snails or rock snails. With over 1,700 living species, the Muricidae represent almost 10% of the Neog ...

, subfamily Coralliophilinae, the coral snails or coral shells.Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2010). Leptoconchus Rüppell, 1834. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=206175 on 2011-03-12

Description

The thin shell is globosely pyriform, with a perforate axis. The umbilicus is partly concealed by the reflected inner

lip The lips are a horizontal pair of soft appendages attached to the jaws and are the most visible part of the mouth of many animals, including humans. Mammal lips are soft, movable and serve to facilitate the ingestion of food (e.g. sucklin ...

. The

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

is obtuse. The

aperture In optics, the aperture of an optical system (including a system consisting of a single lens) is the hole or opening that primarily limits light propagated through the system. More specifically, the entrance pupil as the front side image o ...

is oblong, produced anteriorly into a wide subrecurved

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 i ...

. The mantle-margin is greatly thickened and fleshy. The tentacles are small, broad, and united at their bases. The eyes are small and black, on the outer side of the tentacles, near their tips. The foot is small, short, obtuse and rounded behind, with a thin, expanded, disk-like lobe in front, and the siphon is obsolete. There is no operculum.Adams, H. & Adams, A. (1853-1858). The genera of Recent Mollusca; arranged according to their organization. London, van Voorst. Vol. 1: xl + 484 pp.; vol. 2: 661 pp.; vol. 3: 138 pls

Species

The following species are currently accepted within ''Leptoconchus'': * † '' Leptoconchus costatus'' (Chenu, 1843) * '' Leptoconchus cumingii'' MassDeshayes, 1863 * '' Leptoconchus cyphastrae'' Massin, 1983 * † '' Leptoconchus duvergieri'' (Cossmann & Peyrot, 1923) * '' Leptoconchus ellipticus'' (G. B. Sowerby I, 1823) * '' Leptoconchus expolitus'' (Shikama, 1963) * '' Leptoconchus inactiniformis'' A. Gittenberger & E. Gittenberger, 2011 * '' Leptoconchus inalbechi'' A. Gittenberger & E. Gittenberger, 2011 * '' Leptoconchus incrassa'' A. Gittenberger & E. Gittenberger, 2011 * '' Leptoconchus incycloseris'' A. Gittenberger & E. Gittenberger, 2011 * '' Leptoconchus infungites'' A. Gittenberger & E. Gittenberger, 2011 * '' Leptoconchus ingrandifungi'' A. Gittenberger & E. Gittenberger, 2011 * '' Leptoconchus ingranulosa'' A. Gittenberger & E. Gittenberger, 2011 * '' Leptoconchus inlimax'' A. Gittenberger & E. Gittenberger, 2011 * '' Leptoconchus inpileus'' A. Gittenberger & E. Gittenberger, 2011 * '' Leptoconchus inpleuractis'' A. Gittenberger & E. Gittenberger, 2011 * '' Leptoconchus inscruposa'' A. Gittenberger & E. Gittenberger, 2011 * '' Leptoconchus inscutaria'' A. Gittenberger & E. Gittenberger, 2011 * † '' Leptoconchus intalpina'' A. Gittenberger & E. Gittenberger, 2011 * '' Leptoconchus jaegeri'' Rolle, 1863 * '' Leptoconchus lamarckii'' (Deshayes, 1863 * '' Leptoconchus massini'' A. Gittenberger & E. Gittenberger, 2011 * '' Leptoconchus peronii'' (Lamarck, 1818) * '' Leptoconchus solidiusculus'' (G. B. Sowerby II, 1872) * '' Leptoconchus vangoethemi'' Massin, 1983 ;Taxa inquirenda: * ''Leptoconchus cuvieri'' Deshayes, 1863 * ''Leptoconchus djedah'' (Chenu, 1843) * ''Leptoconchus globulosus'' (G. B. Sowerby II, 1872) * ''Leptoconchus maillardi'' Deshayes, 1863 * ''Leptoconchus noumeae'' Risbec, 1953 * ''Leptoconchus rostratus'' A. Adams, 1864 * ''Leptoconchus ruppelii'' Deshayes, 1863 * ''Leptoconchus serratus'' (G. B. Sowerby II, 1872) * ''Leptoconchus tenuis'' (Chenu, 1843) ;Species brought into synonymy include: * ''Leptoconchus fimbriatus'' (A. Adams, 1852): synonym of ''

Coralliophila fimbriata ''Coralliophila fimbriata'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family (biology), family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails. Description The shell size varies between 8 mm and 27 mm Distribution This ...

'' (A. Adams, 1852) * L''eptoconchus lamarkii'' Deshayes, 1863: synonym of ''Leptoconchus lamarckii'' Deshayes, 1863 (incorrect original spelling) * ''Leptoconchus robillardi'' Liénard, 1870: synonym of '' Coralliophila robillardi'' (Liénard, 1870) * ''Leptoconchus schrenkii'' Lischke, 1871: synonym of ''Leptoconchus peronii'' (Lamarck, 1818) * ''Leptoconchus striatus'' Rüppell, 1835: synonym of ''Leptoconchus peronii'' (Lamarck, 1818)

References

* Vaught, K.C. (1989). ''A classification of the living Mollusca''. American Malacologists: Melbourne, FL (USA). . XII, 195 pp * Oliverio M. (2008) ''Coralliophilinae (Neogastropoda: Muricidae) from the southwest Pacific''. In: V. Héros, R.H. Cowie & P. Bouchet (eds), Tropical Deep-Sea Benthos 25. Mémoires du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle 196: 481–585. page(s): 557

External links

Rüppell E. (1835 ["1834"]). Description of a new genus of pectinibranchiated gasteropodous Mollusca (Leptoconchus). Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 2: 105-106.

Sowerby, G. B., III. (1919). Notes on Magilus and its allies, substituting the generic name Magilopsis for Leptoconchus lamarcki, Deshayes. Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London. 13(3-4): 75-77

Deshayes, G. P. (1863). Catalogue des mollusques de l'île de la Réunion (Bourbon). Pp. 1-144. In Maillard, L. (Ed.) Notes sur l'Ile de la Réunion. Dentu, Paris

A. & Gittenberger E. (2011) Cryptic, adaptive radiation of endoparasitic snails: sibling species of Leptoconchus (Gastropoda: Coralliophilidae) in corals. Organisms, Diversity and Evolution 11: 21-41
{{Coralliophilinae-stub