Fusiturricula fusinella

Fusiturricula fusinella
Original image of a shell of Fusiturricula fusinella
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Superfamily:	Conoidea
Family:	Drilliidae
Genus:	Fusiturricula
Species:	F. fusinella
Binomial name
Fusiturricula fusinella (W.H. Dall, 1908)
Synonyms [1]
Surcula fusinellaW.H. Dall, 1908 Turris (Surcula) fusinellaW.H. Dall, 1908 (basionym)

Fusiturricula fusinella is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Drilliidae. ^[1]

Description

The size of an adult shell varies between 17 mm and 60 mm.

(Original description) The small, slender, delicate shell is white with a faint suffusion toward the periphery of pale pinkish. It contains ten or more whorls. The spire is acute, a little shorter than the aperture. The protoconch consists of three elevated whorls, milk-white, glassy, smooth, abruptly changing to the adult type of sculpture. The fifth whorl shows seven, the ninth with ten, short axial ribs, chiefly visible on the periphery, crossed by two strong spiral cords, more or less turgid at the intersections. The whorl above these cords is somewhat excavated with a nearly smooth surface except for lines of growth and three or four spiral threads, more distinct and numerous on the later whorls. The base is bordered by a prominent cord on which the suture is laid, giving the effect of a presutural ridge just behind the anal fasciole. On the base there are about 20 more cords with a tendency to alternate in size. The whole surface has minute spiral striae and lines of growth which form a microscopic reticulation only visible with a good lens. The aperture is rounded. The siphonal canal is long and slender. The body is polished and the sculpture eroded. The columella is white, callous, obliquely truncate in front, slightly twisted and impervious. The outer lip is thin, simple. The anal sulcus is wide and shallow. ^[2]

Distribution

This species occurs in the demersal zone of the Eastern Pacific Ocean off the Galapagos Islands and from the Gulf of California, Western Mexico, to Panama.

References

1. Bouchet, P. (2015). Fusiturricula fusinella (Dall, 1908). In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=578783 on 2016-10-03
2. W.H. Dall (1908): Reports on the Dredging Operations off the West Coast of Central America to the Galapagos, to the West Coast of Mexico, and in the Gulf of California, in charge of Alexander Agassiz, carried on by the U. S. Fish Commission Steamer "Albatross," during 1891, Lieut. Commander Z. L. Tanner, U. S. N., Commanding. XXX VII. Reports on the Scientific Results of the Expedition to the Eastern Tropical Pacific, in charge of Alexander Agassiz, by the U. S. Fish Commission Steamer "Albatross," from October, 1904, to March, 1905, Lieut. Commander L. M. Garrett, U. S. N., Commanding. XIV. The Mollusca and the Brachiopoda; Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard v. 43 p. 275 (1904)

• Tucker, J.K. 2004 Catalog of recent and fossil turrids (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Zootaxa 682:1–1295