''Menestho'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...
of very small
sea snails,
pyramidellid 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 ...
s, or
micromollusk
A micromollusk is a shelled mollusk which is extremely small, even at full adult size. The word is usually, but not exclusively, applied to marine mollusks, although in addition, numerous species of land snails and freshwater mollusks also ...
s.
[Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2011). Menestho Möller, 1842. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=138409 on 2011-11-07]
Shell description
The original description by Möller (1842) is brief and in Latin: "Animal pede elongato, angusto; ore simplici, membrana linguali destituto; tentaculis brevioribus, crassiusculis, oculos perparvos ad basin internum ferentibus. Operculo pauco-spirato. Testa conico-turrita."
Life habits
Little is known about the biology of the members of this genus. As is true of most members of the
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 ...
''
sensu lato
''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular c ...
'', they are most likely to be
ectoparasite
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson ha ...
s.
Species
Species within the genus ''Menestho'' include:
* ''
Menestho acuminata''
Preston, 1908
* ''
Menestho akkeshiensis''
Habe, 1958
* ''
Menestho albula''
(Fabricius, 1780) (Type species) (as ''Turbo albulus'')
* ''
Menestho beermanae''
Jong & Coomans, 1988
* ''
Menestho cingulitissima''
Nomura, 1937
* ''
Menestho exarata''
A. Adams, 1861
* ''
Menestho felix''
(Dall & Bartsch, 1906) [Dall & Bartsch, ''Notes on Japanese, Indo-Pacific and American Pyramidellidae''; Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum, vol XXX n° 1452; 1906]
* ''
Menestho hypocurta''
(Dall & Bartsch, 1909)
* ''
Menestho kesennumensis
''Menestho'' is a genus of very small sea snails, Pyramidellidae, pyramidellid gastropod mollusks, or micromollusks.Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2011). Menestho Möller, 1842. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespe ...
''
Nomura, 1938
* ''
Menestho kwantoensis''
Nomura, 1938
* ''
Menestho sexsulcata''
Nomura, 1936
* ''
Menestho shataii''
Nomura, 1936
* ''
Menestho suavis''
Nomura, 1936
* ''
Menestho truncatula''
(Odhner, 1915)
;Species brought into synonymy:
* ''Menestho amilda''
Dall & Bartsch, 1909: synonym of ''
Odostomia amilda''
Dall & Bartsch, 1909
* ''Menestho beauforti''
Jacot, A.P., 1921: synonym of ''
Boonea impressa
''Boonea impressa'', common name the impressed odostome, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Pyramidellidae, the pyrams and their allies. The species is one of twelve known species within the Boonea genus of ...
''
(Say, T., 1822)
* ''Menestho chilensis''
Dall & Bartsch, 1909: synonym of ''
Odostomia chilensis''
Dall & Bartsch, 1909
* ''Menestho cingulittissima''
ic: synonym of ''Menestho cingulitissima''
Nomura, 1937
* ''Menestho diaphana''
(Jeffreys, 1848): synonym of ''
Ondina diaphana''
(Jeffreys, 1848)
* ''Menestho divisa''
(J. Adams, 1797): synonym of ''
Ondina divisa''
(Adams J., 1797)
* ''Menestho dollfusi''
Locard, 1886: synonym of ''
Euparthenia humboldti
''Euparthenia humboldti'' is a species of sea snail, 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 c ...
''
(Risso, 1826)
* ''Menestho exarata''
A. Adams, 1861: synonym of ''Menestho exaratissima''
(Dall & Bartsch, 1906)
* ''Menestho grijalvae''
(Baker, Hanna & Strong, 1928): synonym of ''
Odostomia grijalvae''
Baker, Hanna & Strong, 1928
* ''Menestho humboldti''
(Risso, 1826): synonym of ''
Euparthenia humboldti
''Euparthenia humboldti'' is a species of sea snail, 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 c ...
''
(Risso, 1826)
* ''Menestho morseana''
Bartsch, 1909: synonym of ''Menestho albula''
(Fabricius, 1780)
* ''Menestho tenuicula''
F. Nordsieck, 1972: synonym of ''
Odostomia erjaveciana''
Brusina, 1869
References
*
* Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). ''European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification''. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 180–213
* Spencer, H.; Marshall. B. (2009). ''All Mollusca except Opisthobranchia''. In: Gordon, D. (Ed.) (2009). New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity. Volume One: Kingdom Animalia. 584 pp
* Vaught, K.C. (1989). ''A classification of the living Mollusca''. American Malacologists: Melbourne, FL (USA). . XII, 195 pp
External links
''Menestho albula''''Menestho truncatula''Miocene Gastropods and Biostratigraphy of the Kern River Area, California; United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 642
Pyramidellidae
{{Pyramidellidae-stub