Olivella columellaris

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Olivella columellaris
Olivella columellaris crawling; scale bar, 1 cm.jpg
Olivella columellaris crawling, scale bar: 1 cm. Arrowhead highlights lateral propodial appendage. From [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Family: Olividae
Genus: Olivella
Species:
O. columellaris
Binomial name
Olivella columellaris
(Sowerby, 1825) [2]

Olivella columellaris is a species of small sea snail, marine gastropod mollusk in the subfamily Olivellinae, in the family Olividae, the olives. Species in the genus Olivella are commonly called dwarf olives. [3] With the very similar Olivella semistriata it forms the subgenus Pachyoliva . [4] Both species are suspension feeders. They use unique appendages of the propodium (front part of the foot) to deploy mucus nets which capture suspended particles from the backwash on sandy beaches of the tropical eastern Pacific. [1]

Contents

Description

Shell Olivella columellaris 01.jpg
Shell

(this section compiled from [1] [4] [5] [6] [7] )

Shell of oval shape, with relatively low and blunt spire and a large body whorl. The shell is smooth and shiny. The suture is open. The aperture is elongate. The inner lip (= the inner border of the aperture) is covered by very thick parietal callus that in mature animals extends beyond the aperture to the suture, where it may form a knob causing a pronounced kink in the outline of the shell in apertural view. Lirae (= ridges or plications) on the inner lip are lacking. The ground color is a dark brown or olive with a varying number (0 to 3) of lighter or darker, often fading bands. The fasciolar band (= a distinctly structured portion of the shell around the siphonal notch) is brownish gray to white. A chitinous (= horny) operculum is present.

The living animal is brownish gray with characteristic dark marks on the propodium, the front part of the foot. It lacks cephalic tentacles and eyes. As in all Olivellidae and the closely related Olividae, the propodium is separated by a pronounced groove from the main foot, the metapodium. In O. columellaris (as well as in O. semistriata ), the lateral tips of the propodium are greatly extended and function in suspension feeding. The propodium is further divided into a left and a right half. The mouth opening which can be everted on a proboscis, is located on the dorsal face of the foot between the left and right lobes of the propodium.

Distribution

The species is distributed along the American west coast from Nicaragua to Peru, according to the older literature. [5] The assumption of such a wide distribution range, however, seems partly due to the fact that small individuals cannot be distinguished from small specimens of the more northerly distributed Olivella semistriata , and to the resulting misidentifications in museum collections and in the scientific literature. [1] To date (2013) it appears unclear whether O. columellaris actually occurs north of Ecuador.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olive snail</span> Family of molluscs

Olive snails, also known as olive shells and olives, scientific name Olividae, are a taxonomic family of medium to large predatory sea snails with smooth, shiny, elongated oval-shaped shells.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olivellinae</span> Subfamily of gastropods

Olivellinae, are a subfamily of small predatory sea snails with smooth, shiny, elongated oval-shaped shells, in the family Olividae. The shells sometimes show muted but attractive colors, and may have some patterning.

<i>Callianax biplicata</i> Species of gastropod

Callianax biplicata, common names the purple dwarf olive, purple olive shell, or purple olivella is a species of small predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Olividae, the olives.

<i>Olivella</i> (gastropod) Genus of gastropods

Olivella, common name the dwarf olives, is a genus of small predatory sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the subfamily Olivellinae of the family Olividae, the olives. Olivella is the type genus of the family.

<i>Oliva incrassata</i> Species of gastropod

Oliva incrassata, the angled olive or giant olive, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Olividae, the olives.

<i>Olivella barbenthos</i> Species of gastropod

Olivella barbenthos is a species of small sea snail, marine gastropod mollusk in the subfamily Olivellinae, in the family Olividae, the olives. Species in the genus Olivella are commonly called dwarf olives.

Olivella bitleri is a species of small sea snail, marine gastropod mollusk in the subfamily Olivellinae, in the family Olividae, the olives. Species in the genus Olivella are commonly called dwarf olives.

<i>Olivella careorugula</i> Species of gastropod

Olivella careorugula is a species of small sea snail, marine gastropod mollusk in the subfamily Olivellinae, in the family Olividae, the olives. Species in the genus Olivella are commonly called dwarf olives.

<i>Olivella dama</i> Species of gastropod

Olivella dama is a species of small sea snail, marine gastropod mollusk in the subfamily Olivellinae, in the family Olividae, the olives. Species in the genus Olivella are commonly called dwarf olives.

Olivella drangai is a species of small sea snail, marine gastropod mollusk in the subfamily Olivellinae, in the family Olividae, the olives. Species in the genus Olivella are commonly called dwarf olives.

<i>Olivella lactea</i> Species of gastropod

Olivella lactea is a species of small sea snail, marine gastropod mollusk in the subfamily Olivellinae, in the family Olividae, the olives. Species in the genus Olivella are commonly called dwarf olives.

Olivella moorei is a species of small sea snail, marine gastropod mollusk in the subfamily Olivellinae, in the family Olividae, the olives. Species in the genus Olivella are commonly called dwarf olives.

Olivella perplexa is a species of small sea snail, marine gastropod mollusk in the subfamily Olivellinae, in the family Olividae, the olives. Species in the genus Olivella are commonly called dwarf olives.

Olivella riverae is a species of small sea snail, marine gastropod mollusk in the subfamily Olivellinae, in the family Olividae, the olives. Species in the genus Olivella are commonly called dwarf olives.

<i>Olivella semistriata</i> Species of gastropod

Olivella semistriata is a species of small sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Olividae, the olives. Species in the genus Olivella are commonly called dwarf olives With the very similar Olivella columellaris it forms the subgenus Pachyoliva. Both species are suspension feeders. They use unique appendages of the propodium to deploy mucus nets which capture suspended particles from the backwash on sandy beaches of the tropical eastern Pacific. Olivella semistriata is a swash-surfer; the snails use their expanded foot as an underwater sail to follow the tidal movement of the backwash zone in which they feed.

Olivella thompsoni is a species of small sea snail, marine gastropod mollusk in the subfamily Olivellinae, in the family Olividae, the olives. Species in the genus Olivella are commonly called dwarf olives.

Olivella watermani is a species of small sea snail, marine gastropod mollusk in the subfamily Olivellinae, in the family Olividae, the olives. Species in the genus Olivella are commonly called dwarf olives.

<i>Ancilla</i> (gastropod) Genus of gastropods

Ancilla, common name the ancillas, is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Ancillariidae.

<i>Pachyoliva</i> Subgenus of gastropods

Pachyoliva is a subgenus of small sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the genus Olivella, the dwarf olives, within the family Olividae, the olives. Species in this subgenus inhabit soft sediments in the intertidal and subtidal zones of sandy beaches of the Panamic faunal province, that is, the west coast of the Americas from Baja California to north Peru.

Callianax is a genus of small predatory sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the subfamily Olivellinae of the family Olividae, the olives.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Troost, Alison I.; Rupert, Samantha D.; Cyrus, Ariel Z.; Paladino, Frank V.; Dattilo, Benjamin F.; Peters, Winfried S. (June 2012). "What can we learn from confusing Olivella columellaris and O. semistriata (Olivellidae, Gastropoda), two key species in panamic sandy beach ecosystems?". Biota Neotropica. 12 (2): 101–113. doi: 10.1590/S1676-06032012000200011 .
  2. ↑ Sowerby G. B. [first of the name (1825). A catalogue of the shells contained in the collection of the late Earl of Tankerville. London, privately published : VII + 92 + XXXIV pp.]. World Register of Marine Species, Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  3. ↑ Olivella columellaris (G.B. Sowerby I, 1825) . Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species  on 28 April 2010.
  4. 1 2 Olsson A. A. (1956) Studies on the genus Olivella. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 108: 155-225
  5. 1 2 Keen A.M. (1971) Sea Shells of Tropical West America. Stanford University Press, Stanford.
  6. ↑ Weinkauff H.C. (1878) Die Gattung Oliva (Systematisches Conchylien-Cabinet von Martini und Chemnitz, Vol. 5 Abt. 1). Bauer & Raspe, Nürnberg
  7. ↑ Burch J. Q., Burch R. L. (1963) Genus Olivella in eastern Pacific. Nautilus 77: 1-8. (plus 3 plates)


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