Admete gracilior

Admete gracilior
	Shell of Admete gracilior (specimen at the Smithsonian Institution)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Family:	Cancellariidae
Subfamily:	Admetinae
Genus:	Admete
Species:	A. gracilior
Binomial name
	Admete gracilior; (Carpenter in Gabb, 1869)
Synonyms
	Admete rhyssa Dall, 1919; Admete seftoni Berry, 1956; Admete woodworthi Dall, 1905; Cancellaria gracilior Carpenter in Gabb, 1869 (original combination);

Admete gracilior, common name the slender admete, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cancellariidae, the nutmeg snails.^[1]

Description

The length of the shell varies between 7 mm and 12 mm.

(Described as Admete rhyssa) The small, white shell features an olive-colored outer layer called the periostracum, a loosely coiled (decorticated) protoconch, followed by approximately four distinct whorls separated by a distinct suture.

The axial sculpture consists of (on the body whorl a dozen) rather narrow, nearly vertical ribs, which extend from suture to suture along the spire and from the suture to the margin of the base in the body whorl, with wider spaces between. The incremental lines are rather marked. The spiral sculpture consists of (on the spire four, on the body whorl eight) prominent threads with wider interspaces, overriding the ribs and forming nodes where they intersect them. The base of the shell is nearly smooth except for one or two minor threads near the siphonal canal.

The aperture has a semilunate shape. The outer lip is thin. The body of the shell is covered with a thin layer of enamel. The columella shows three oblique plaits. The siphonal canal is shallow, short and contains a faint fasciole.^[2]

Distribution

This species occurs in the Pacific Ocean from the Aleutians to California, USA; also off Tierra del Fuego, Argentina and in the Ross Sea, Antarctica.

References

^ Admete gracilior (Carpenter in Gabb, 1869). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 3 November 2012.
^ United States National Museum, and William Healey Dall. Descriptions of new species of Mollusca from the North Pacific Ocean in the collection of the United States National Museum. 1919 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

Dall, W.H. (1905) Some new species of mollusks from California. The Nautilus, 18, 123–125
McLean J.H. (1996). The Prosobranchia. In: Taxonomic Atlas of the Benthic Fauna of the Santa Maria Basin and Western Santa Barbara Channel. The Mollusca Part 2 – The Gastropoda. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. volume 9: 1–160

External links

[WoRMS-1] Admete gracilior (Carpenter in Gabb, 1869). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 3 November 2012.

[2] United States National Museum, and William Healey Dall. Descriptions of new species of Mollusca from the North Pacific Ocean in the collection of the United States National Museum. 1919 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

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