''Rubyspira'' 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 deep water

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 unclassified in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

within the superfamily

Abyssochrysoidea ''Abyssochrysoidea'' is a superfamily of deep-water sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks unassigned in the order Caenogastropoda. MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Abyssochrysoidea Tomlin, 1927. Accessed through: World Register of Marine ...

Distribution

They are known from

Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by about 75 miles (120 km), accessible via California S ...

, California.

Species

Species within the genus ''Rubyspira'' include: * ''

Rubyspira goffrediae ''Rubyspira'' is a genus of deep water sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks unclassified in the family within the superfamily Abyssochrysoidea. Distribution They are known from Monterey Bay, California. Species Species within the genus ''Ru ...

'' Johnson, Warén, Lee, Kano, Kaim, Davis, Strong & Vrijenhoek, 2010 * ''

Rubyspira osteovora ''Rubyspira'' is a genus of deep water sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusks unclassified in the family (biology), family within the superfamily Abyssochrysoidea. Distribution They are known from Monterey Bay, California. Speci ...

'' Johnson, Warén, Lee, Kano, Kaim, Davis, Strong & Vrijenhoek, 2010 - type species of the genus ''Rubyspira'' * ''Rubyspira'' from São Paulo Ridge (undescribed species)Sumida P. Y. G., Alfaro-Lucas J. M., Shimabukuro M., Kitazato H., Perez J. A. A., Soares-Gomes A., Toyofuku T., Lima A. O. S., Ara K. & Fujiwara Y. (2016). "Deep-sea whale fall fauna from the Atlantic resembles that of the Pacific Ocean". ''Scientific Reports'' 6: Article number: 22139. .

Ecology

They are specialized bone-eating snails on

whale fall A whale fall occurs when the Carrion, carcass of a whale has fallen onto the ocean floor, typically at a depth greater than , putting them in the Bathyal zone, bathyal or abyssal zones. On the sea floor, these carcasses can create complex local ...

s. They were found on carcass of

gray whale The gray whale (''Eschrichtius robustus''), also known as the grey whale,Britannica Micro.: v. IV, p. 693. is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and breeding grounds yearly. It reaches a length of , a weight of up to and lives between ...

. Their main food source are bones of whales.

References

Caenogastropoda {{Caenogastropoda-stub