''Turbonilla lepta'' is a
species of
sea snail
Sea snail is a common name for slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the ...
, a
marine
Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean.
Marine or marines may refer to:
Ocean
* Maritime (disambiguation)
* Marine art
* Marine biology
* Marine debris
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* ...
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 comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...
mollusk in the
family Pyramidellidae, the pyrams and their allies.
[WoRMS (2010). ''Turbonilla lepta'' Dall & Bartsch, 1909. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=576055 on 3 April 2012]
Description
The milk-white shell is very slender and has an elongate-conic shape. The shell grows to a length of 2.7 mm. The 1¾
whorl
A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs).
Whorls in nature
File:Photograph and axial plane floral ...
s of the
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 ...
are depressed, and helicoid. Their axis is at right angles to that of the succeeding turns, in the first of which they are very slightly immersed. The eight whorls of the teleoconch are slightly rounded. They are marked by well-developed, straight, rounded, strongly retractive axial ribs, of which there are 20 upon the first, 18 upon the second to sixth, and 20 upon the penultimate turn. The intercostal spaces are about as wide as the ribs. They are marked by eight equal and equally spaced incised spiral lines. The
sutures are well impressed. The periphery and the base of the
body whorl
The body whorl is part of the morphology of the shell in those gastropod mollusks that possess a coiled shell. The term is also sometimes used in a similar way to describe the shell of a cephalopod mollusk.
In gastropods
In gastropods, the b ...
are well rounded. They are marked by the continuations of the axial ribs and five equal and equally spaced incised spiral lines. The
aperture is oval. The posterior angle is acute. The
outer lip is thin, showing the external
sculpture within. The
columella is slender, curved, and slightly revolute.
[Dall & Bartsch (1909), A Monograph of West American Pyramidellid Mollusks, United States National Museum Bulletin 68, p. 105](_blank)
/ref>
Distribution
The type specimen occurs off La Paz
La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities ...
at the Gulf of California.
References
External links
To Encyclopedia of Life
To ITIS
To World Register of Marine Species
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3740282
lepta
Gastropods described in 1909