Anatoma tenuis

Anatoma tenuis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Vetigastropoda
Order:	Lepetellida
Superfamily:	Scissurelloidea
Family:	Anatomidae
Genus:	Anatoma
Species:	A. tenuis
Binomial name
Anatoma tenuis (Jeffreys, 1877)
Synonyms [1]
Anatoma josephinae(Odhner, 1960) Scissurella josephinaeOdhner, 1960 Scissurella tenuisJeffreys, 1877

Anatoma tenuis is a species of small sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk or micromollusk in the family Anatomidae. ^{[1] [2]}

Description

(Original description) The shell forms a depressed cone with an expanded base, sloping to the periphery and slit. It is very thin, scarcely semi-transparent, and rather glossy.

The sculpture consists of extremely numerous and fine curved longitudinal striae, and equally numerous and fine concentric or spiral striae. Their intersection creates a regular but minute cancellation. The concentric striae at the base are stronger and more distinct than the longitudinal striae. This sculpture is, of course, interrupted by the peripheral slit and groove.

The shell's color is pearl-white.

The spire is greatly depressed. There are 5 whorls, somewhat flattened below the suture. The body whorl enormously exceeds in size all the others put together.

The slit is central, long, and broad. The groove is also broad, marked across by regular but rather distant curved striae. Its edges are sharp and upturned.

The aperture is obliquely oval. The outer lip is thin, and the inner lip is folded back and curved. The columella is nearly straight, featuring a twisted fold in front of the small and narrow umbilicus. ^[3]

Distribution

This marine species occurs off the Atlantic Ocean off the Azores, Greenland and the Canary Islands; also off the Virgin Islands.

References

1. Anatoma tenuis (Jeffreys, 1877) . 26 July 2025. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species .
2. Geiger D.L. (2012) Monograph of the little slit shells. Volume 1. Introduction, Scissurellidae. pp. 1-728. Volume 2. Anatomidae, Larocheidae, Depressizonidae, Sutilizonidae, Temnocinclidae. pp. 729-1291. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Monographs Number 7. (30 October 2012)
3. Jeffreys, J.G. (1877). "New and peculiar Mollusca of the Patellidae and other families of Gastropoda procured in the Valorous expedition". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 4 (19): 234. Retrieved 27 July 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .

• Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 180–213

External links

• Encyclopedia of Life
• USNM Invertebrate Zoology Mollusca Collection
• World Register of Marine Species