Cochlespira elegans
Encyclopedia
Cochlespira elegans, common name the elegant star turrid, is a species
of sea snail
, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family
Cochlespiridae
.
The white shell is acutely tapering before and behind. The long and straight siphonal canal
has about the same length as the spire. There are nine whorls
of which two are embryonic. The aperture
is very long and narrow. The anterior surface of the whorls are everywhere sculptured with even uniform spiral rows of rounded nodules, beautifully reticulated by the lines of growth. One row about the middle of the whorl is slightly elevated above the others. The carina is fringed with delicate triangular points. The posterior surface of the whorls, except for lines of growth, is smooth, with one row of nodules just inside the carina. The columella is not thickened, but somewhat twisted anteriorly. The outer lip
is sharply angulated by the carina.
, the Gulf of Mexico
and the Greater Antilles
.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of sea snail
Sea snail
Sea snail is a common name for those snails that normally live in saltwater, marine gastropod molluscs....
, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Cochlespiridae
Cochlespiridae
Cochlespiridae is a taxonomic family of predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea.This family is not well differentiated morphologically, and there is poor congruence between the molecular and shell characters. Its limits are uncertain...
.
Description
The size of an adult shell varies between 35 mm and 60 mm.The white shell is acutely tapering before and behind. The long and straight siphonal canal
Siphonal canal
Some sea marine gastropods have a soft tubular anterior extension of the mantle called a siphon through which water is drawn into the mantle cavity and over the gill and which serves as a chemoreceptor to locate food. In many carnivorous snails, where the siphon is particularly long, the structure...
has about the same length as the spire. There are nine whorls
Whorl (mollusc)
A whorl is a single, complete 360° revolution or turn in the spiral growth of a mollusc shell. A spiral configuration of the shell is found in of numerous gastropods, but it is also found in shelled cephalopods including Nautilus, Spirula and the large extinct subclass of cephalopods known as the...
of which two are embryonic. The aperture
Aperture (mollusc)
The aperture is an opening in certain kinds of mollusc shells: it is the main opening of the shell, where part of the body of the animal emerges for locomotion, feeding, etc....
is very long and narrow. The anterior surface of the whorls are everywhere sculptured with even uniform spiral rows of rounded nodules, beautifully reticulated by the lines of growth. One row about the middle of the whorl is slightly elevated above the others. The carina is fringed with delicate triangular points. The posterior surface of the whorls, except for lines of growth, is smooth, with one row of nodules just inside the carina. The columella is not thickened, but somewhat twisted anteriorly. The outer lip
Lip (gastropod)
In the shell of a gastropod mollusk , the margin of the aperture is called the lip or the peristome. In other words, this is a term used to describe part of gastropod shell anatomy....
is sharply angulated by the carina.
Distribution
This species occurs in the Caribbean SeaCaribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
, the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
and the Greater Antilles
Greater Antilles
The Greater Antilles are one of three island groups in the Caribbean. Comprising Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola , and Puerto Rico, the Greater Antilles constitute almost 90% of the land mass of the entire West Indies.-Greater Antilles in context :The islands of the Caribbean Sea, collectively known as...
.