Emarginula pumila, the pygmy ermarginula, is a species

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...

 Fissurellidae, the keyhole limpets.

Description

The whitish to pale brownish conical shell is 6 to 13 mm long on a broadly oval base with a irregularly scalloped margin. The height is variable and the shell is usually much depressed. The apex is nearly centrally located. There is a narrow exhalant slit at the front margin. There are about twelve broad ribs that are minutely scabrous. These ribs are crossed by three buff, radiating bands. The radiating ribs are distant and corrugated. The interstices are deeply latticed and corrugated.

Distribution and habitat

This keyhole limpet is fairly common and can be found on or under rocks in tide pools, shallow water and in the intertidal to the sublittoral zone (from 2m to 27 m deep) along the coasts of Southeastern Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 south to Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. They can also be found living on mangrove oysters.

External links

• Manual of conchology, structural and systematic : with illustrations of the species / by George W. Tryon, Jr. p. 268, Philadelphia :Published by the Author, Academy of Natural Sciences,1879-1898.