Cochlespira elegans

Cochlespira elegans
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Superfamily:	Conoidea
Family:	Cochlespiridae
Genus:	Cochlespira
Species:	C. elegans
Binomial name
	Cochlespira elegans; (W. H. Dall, 1881)
Synonyms
	Ancistrosyrinx elegans Dall, 1881

Cochlespira elegans, common name the elegant star turrid, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cochlespiridae.^[2]^[3]

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 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.^[4]

Distribution[]

This species occurs in the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Greater Antilles.
The light brown shell illustrated here was recovered via Johnson Sea-Link II submersible operating at 300–400 metres depth, off West coast Barbados, Lesser Antilles.

References[]

^ Preliminary Report on the Mollusca. William Healey Dall, 1881
^ ^a ^b Cochlespira elegans (Dall, 1881). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 2 October 2010.
^ P. Bouchet; Yu. I. Kantor; A. Sysoev; N. Puillandre (2011). "A new operational classification of the Conoidea (Gastropoda)". Journal of Molluscan Studies. 77 (3): 273–308. doi:10.1093/mollus/eyr017.
^ George Washington Tryon, Manual of Conchology vol. VI, p. 176; 1884 (described as Ancistrosyrinx elegans)

Rosenberg, G., F. Moretzsohn, and E. F. García. 2009. Gastropoda (Mollusca) of the Gulf of Mexico, pp. 579–699 in Felder, D.L. and D.K. Camp (eds.), Gulf of Mexico–Origins, Waters, and Biota. Biodiversity. Texas A&M Press, College Station, Texas

External links[]

"Cochlespira elegans". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 31 August 2011.

[1] Preliminary Report on the Mollusca. William Healey Dall, 1881

[WoRMS-2] Cochlespira elegans (Dall, 1881). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 2 October 2010.

[Conoidea-3] P. Bouchet; Yu. I. Kantor; A. Sysoev; N. Puillandre (2011). "A new operational classification of the Conoidea (Gastropoda)". Journal of Molluscan Studies. 77 (3): 273–308. doi:10.1093/mollus/eyr017.

[4] George Washington Tryon, Manual of Conchology vol. VI, p. 176; 1884 (described as Ancistrosyrinx elegans)

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