''Sabinella troglodytes'' is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of small

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 ...

, a 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 ...

in the family

Eulimidae Eulimidae is a family of very small parasitic sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Vanikoroidea. Description These small parasitic snails live on (or in some cases in) the bodies of echinoderms such as sea cucumbers, se ...

. It is a parasitic snail found near the coast of Brazil which lives on the body of the slate pencil urchin ''

Eucidaris tribuloides ''Eucidaris tribuloides'', the slate pencil urchin (named after slate pencil), is a species of cidaroid sea urchins that inhabits littoral regions of the Atlantic Ocean. As a member of the basal echinoid order Cidaroida, its morphological, ...

''.

Distribution

Distribution of ''Sabinella troglodytes'' include near the coast of Brazil.

Description

The maximum recorded

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 ...

length is 4.1 mm.Welch J. J. (2010). "The “Island Rule” and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". '' PLoS ONE'' 5(1): e8776. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008776.

Habitat

Minimum recorded depth is 1 m. Maximum recorded depth is 46 m.

Feeding habits

''S. troglodytes'' feed and live on the spines of

sea urchin Sea urchins or urchins () are echinoderms in the class (biology), class Echinoidea. About 950 species live on the seabed, inhabiting all oceans and depth zones from the intertidal zone to deep seas of . They typically have a globular body cove ...

s. It lives on the body of the slate pencil urchin ''

''. Unlike most of its gastropod relatives, ''S. troglodyte'' has lost its radula so they gain access to all that soft internal spine tissue of a sea urchin by secreting some kind of corrosive substance that eats through the tough walls of the spine. This parasitic snail is not content to simply just feed on the sea urchin, they also alter the urchin's spines to make it a more comfortable home. ''Sabinella troglodytes'' is one of many species of gall-forming snails that parasitize echinoderms. It is currently unknown how ''S. troglodytes'' alters the sea urchin's spines, but it could be due to some other components in the snail's saliva. In addition to a corrosive agent to erode the sea urchin's spine, it might also be spitting out growth factors that alter the tissue of the spine. In addition to being a cozy place to feed and hide from threats, these galls seem to be a bit of a love nest for ''S. troglodytes'' during the summer months.Queiroz, V., Neves, E., Sales, L., & Johnsson, R. (2017). The gall-former ''Sabinella troglodytes'' (Caenogastropoda: Eulimidae) and its association with ''Eucidaris tribuloides'' (Echinodermata: Echinoidea). ''

Journal of Conchology The ''Journal of Conchology'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by The Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland, covering research in conchology and malacology. It claims to be the world's oldest continuing publication on t ...

'' 42: 371-377.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4944652 Eulimidae Gastropods described in 1925