Pseudorhaphitoma alfredi

Pseudorhaphitoma alfredi
Original image of a shell of Pseudorhaphitoma alfredi
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Superfamily:	Conoidea
Family:	Mangeliidae
Genus:	Pseudorhaphitoma
Species:	P. alfredi
Binomial name
Pseudorhaphitoma alfredi (E. A. Smith, 1904)
Synonyms [1]
Anacithara alfredi(E. A. Smith, 1904) Cythara alfredi(E. A. Smith, 1904) Daphnella (Mangilia) alfredi(E. A. Smith, 1904) Mangelia alfrediE. A. Smith, 1904 (original combination) Mangelia miseraThiele, 1925 Mangilia alfrediE.A. Smith (original combination) Mangilia costata coarctataSowerby, G.B. III, 1897 Pseudoraphitoma alfredi(E. A. Smith, 1904)

Pseudorhaphitoma alfredi is a small sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Mangeliidae. ^[1]

Description

The length of the shell varies between 5 mm and 7 mm.

(Original description) This South African species differs from Mangilia costata var. coarctataSowerby, G.B. III, 1897 in form. The aperture is shorter and broader. The six or seven ribs are also more regularly continuous up the spire, and especially in the much stronger spiral striation. The striae are close-set, hair-like, continued on and between the costae, and are easily observable under a simple lens. The colour is somewhat variable. Some specimens are white with a broad band around the middle of the body whorl. Others are light brownish, and with or without a darker peripheral zone. ^[2]

However, R.N. Kilburn considered the simple spiral threads and total lack of apertural denticles atypical for this genus and thought that this species should belong in Mangelia (s.l.) in a small complex of temperate water South African species. ^[3]

Distribution

This marine genus occurs off Port Alfred, South Africa, and Mozambique.

References

1. Rosenberg, G. (2012). Pseudorhaphitoma alfredi (E. A. Smith, 1904). In: MolluscaBase (2017). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=605356 on 2017-12-31
2. Smith, E. A. "On a collection of marine shells from Port Alfred, Cape Colony." Journal of Malacology 11.2 (1904): 21-44
3. R.N. Kilburn, Turridae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of southern Africa and Mozambique. Part 7. Subfamily Mangeliinae, section 2; Annals of the Natal Museum 34, pp 317 - 367 (1993)

• Kilburn, R.N. & Rippey, E. (1982) Sea Shells of Southern Africa. Macmillan South Africa, Johannesburg, xi + 249 pp. page(s): 117
• Steyn, D.G. & Lussi, M. (1998) Marine Shells of South Africa. An Illustrated Collector’s Guide to Beached Shells. Ekogilde Publishers, Hartebeespoort, South Africa, ii + 264 pp.

External links

• Tucker, J.K. (2004). "Catalog of recent and fossil turrids (Mollusca: Gastropoda)" (PDF). Zootaxa. 682: 1–1295.
• "Pseudorhaphitoma alfredi". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 16 January 2019.