Odostomellini is a

taxonomic 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme of classes (a taxonomy) and the allocation ...

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

of minute

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 ...

mollusc Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

s within the family

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 micromol ...

the pyrams and their allies.

Taxonomy

Odostomellinae has been one of eleven recognised subfamilies of the family

(according to the taxonomy of Ponder & Lindberg, 1997). The subfamily contains two genera: '' Herviera'' and '' Odostomella'' (

Schander Carl Fredrik Christoffer Schander (21 May 1960 – 21 February 2012) was a professor in marine biology at the University of Bergen, Norway. He was also a thematic leader at the Centre of Excellence in Geobiology. His doctoral thesis (1997, Uni ...

and co-workers 1999). In the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005), this subfamily has been downgraded to the rank of

Odostomellini in the subfamily

Odostomiinae Odostomiinae, ''Odostomia'' snails and their allies, is a taxonomic subfamily of minute parasitic sea snails. These are marine heterobranch gastropod mollusks, or micromollusks, in the family Pyramidellidae. Taxonomy The subfamily Odostomiinae ...

Genera

Genera within the tribe Odostomellini include: * '' Odostomella'' Bucquoy, Dautzenberg & Dollfus, 1883 - type genus of the tribe Odostomellini * '' Heviera'' Melvill & Standen, 1899

Distribution

The subfamily occurs in tropic and temperate seas.

Shell description

The

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

of these snails has a blunt, heterostrophic

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 " ...

, which is wrapped up. The texture of these shells is

sculptured Sculptured is an American experimental and progressive heavy metal music, metal band, mixing melodic and atonal segments. History Following the dissolution of his previous band, guitarist Don Anderson began Sculptured as mostly a one-man proje ...

with ribs. Their color is mostly white, brown, cream or yellowish, sometimes with red or brown lines. The

teleoconch The gastropod shell is part of the body of many gastropods, including snails, 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 ...

is dextrally coiled, but the

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

l shells are

sinistral Sinistral and dextral, in some scientific fields, are the two types of chirality ("handedness") or relative direction. The terms are derived from the Latin words for "left" (''sinister'') and "right" (''dexter''). Other disciplines use different ...

. This results in a sinistrally coiled protoconch. 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 closed by an operculum.

Life habits

The Odostomellinae are

ectoparasite Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted str ...

s, but the hosts are unknown. They do not have a

radula The radula (; : radulae or radulas) is an anatomical structure used by mollusks for feeding, sometimes compared to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food enters ...

. Instead their long

proboscis A proboscis () is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In invertebrates, the term usually refers to tubular arthropod mouthparts, mouthparts used for feeding and sucking. In vertebrates, a pr ...

is used to pierce the skin of its prey and suck up its fluids and soft tissues. The eyes on the grooved tentacles are situated toward the base of the tentacles. Between the head and the foot, a lobed process called the

mentum The term mentum can refer to several anatomical structures near the mouth of an animal: *The median plate of an insect's labium. *The protruding part of the human chin. *A certain thin projection of the soft parts of the animal, below the mouth, i ...

(= thin projection) is visible. These molluscs are

hermaphrodite A hermaphrodite () is a sexually reproducing organism that produces both male and female gametes. Animal species in which individuals are either male or female are gonochoric, which is the opposite of hermaphroditic. The individuals of many ...

s, laying eggs in jelly-like masses on the shell of its host. Some species have

spermatophore A spermatophore, from Ancient Greek σπέρμα (''spérma''), meaning "seed", and -φόρος (''-phóros''), meaning "bearing", or sperm ampulla is a capsule or mass containing spermatozoa created by males of various animal species, especiall ...

s (Schander, Hori & Lundberg, 1999).

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7078054 Pyramidellidae