''Xanthodaphne leptalea'' 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), ...

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 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 ...

Raphitomidae Raphitomidae is a Family (biology), family of small to medium-sized sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea.Bouchet P. & Rocroi J.-P. (Ed.) (2005). "Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families" ...

Description

The length of the shell attains 24 mm. (Original description) The shell is of moderate size, rather stout, very thin and fragile, delicately tinted with brown below the chestnut-brown tip. It consists of four obtusely shouldered

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). In nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral diagra ...

s besides 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 " ...

. 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 long, rather broad, pinched in anteriorly, forming a moderately long, narrow

siphonal canal The siphonal canal is an anatomical feature of the shells of certain groups of sea snails within the clade Neogastropoda. Some sea marine gastropods have a soft tubular anterior extension of the mantle called a siphon through which water i ...

. The outer

lip The lips are a horizontal pair of soft appendages attached to the jaws and are the most visible part of the mouth of many animals, including humans. Mammal lips are soft, movable and serve to facilitate the ingestion of food (e.g. sucklin ...

is badly broken, but, judging by the lines of growth, sweeps well forward from the posterior sinus, which is as wide as the subsutural band, and deepest next the suture. The

columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (, Arabic: ) was a prominent Roman writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture and ancient Roman cuisin ...

is very straight with a narrow, very thin, closely adhering layer of enamel. The subsutural band is broad, oblique, crossed by numerous very delicate curved riblets and lines of growth, most conspicuous just at the suture. At the angle of the shoulder just below the periphery there is, on the two upper whorls, a row of small nodules, which gradually disappear on the penultimate whorl and are entirely wanting on the

body whorl The body whorl is part of the morphology (biology), morphology of the gastropod shell, 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 ...

. The spiral

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

consists of narrow, shallow grooves separated by rather broad, flattened bands of nearly uniform width, which cover the entire surface except the subsutural band and protoconch. Those on the shoulder are a little closer together than elsewhere. Lines of growth are rather indistinct. The protoconch is large, consisting of four conspicuously reticulated, chestnut-brown whorls which increase in size very abruptly from the very small apical whorl. Bush, K. (1893). Reports on the results of dredging under the supervision of Alexander Agassiz, in the Gulf of Mexico (1877-78), in the Caribbean Sea (1878, 79), and along the Atlantic coast of the United States (1880), by the U.S. Coast Survey Steamer "Blake." Lieut.-Com. C.D. Sigsbee, U.S.N., and Commander J.R. Bartlett, U.S.N., Commanding. XXXIV. Report on the Mollusca dredged by the "Blake" in 1880, including descriptions of several new species. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. 23(6): 199-244, pl. 1-2
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Distribution

This species occurs in the Atlantic Ocean off

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

at a depth of 2212 m; also off

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

and

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, USA.

References

* Sysoev A.V. (2014). Deep-sea fauna of European seas: An annotated species check-list of benthic invertebrates living deeper than 2000 m in the seas bordering Europe. Gastropoda. Invertebrate Zoology. Vol.11. No.1: 134–155 * Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca. in: Costello, M.J. et al. (eds), European Register of Marine Species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Patrimoines Naturels. 50: 180-213.

External links

Locard, A., 1897 ''Mollusques testacés''. In: Expéditions scientifiques du Travailleur et du Talisman pendant les années 1880, 1881, 1882, 1883, vol. 1, p. 516 p, 22 pls

MNHN, Paris: specimen

MNHN, Paris: holotype
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Xanthodaphne Leptalea leptalea Gastropods described in 1893