Taranis mayi

Taranis mayi
Original image of a shell of Taranis mayi
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Superfamily:	Conoidea
Family:	Raphitomidae
Genus:	Taranis
Species:	T. mayi
Binomial name
Taranis mayi (Verco, 1909)
Synonyms [1]
Asperdaphne mayi(Verco, 1909) Daphnella mayi(Verco, 1909) Hemipleurotoma mayiVerco, 1909

Taranis mayi is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Raphitomidae. ^[1]

Description

The length of the shell attains 4.6 mm, its diameter 2.4 mm.

(Original description) The shell is thin, oval, and white, comprising four whorls in addition to a brown protoconch with two whorls. These whorls are convex and appear smooth to the naked eye, but under the microscope, they reveal very fine spiral lirae and interstitial punctation. The spire whorls are convex, sharply angulate at the middle with a distinct cord, and the base is contracted, forming a moderately long siphonal canal that curves slightly to the left. The sutures are distinct and finely canaliculated. The aperture is obliquely oval, with a thin, simple outer lip that is ridged externally by the spirals. At the angulation, there is an obtuse, shallow, and wide triangular sinus.

Sculpture: From the suture to the angle, the surface slopes back, then bends forward at an obtuse angle towards the suture. Above the angle, each whorl features three spiral ribs, with an additional one below it. On the body whorl there are eighteen spirals — subdistant just below the angle and becoming more crowded toward the siphonal canal. Very fine axial ribs, about 42 on the penultimate whorl, run obliquely across the surface.

Variations: One example has only one spiral above its very sharp angle, namely, a bold cord just below the suture, making this more channelled and only one below the angle just above the suture in the second and third whorls, and seven in the body whorl. ^[2]

Distribution

This marine species is endemic to Australia and occurs off South Australia.

References

1. Taranis mayi (Verco, 1909) . Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species  on 29 March 2010.
2. Verco, J.C. 1909. Notes on South Australian marine Mollusca with descriptions of new species. Part XII; Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia v. 33 (1909) This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .

• Powell, A.W.B. 1966. The molluscan families Speightiidae and Turridae, an evaluation of the valid taxa, both Recent and fossil, with list of characteristic species. Bulletin of the Auckland Institute and Museum. Auckland, New Zealand 5: 1–184, pls 1–23
• Gatliff, J.H. & Gabriel, C.J. 1912. Additions to and alterations in the Catalogue of Victorian Marine Mollusca. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria n.s. 25(1): 169-175
• Powell, A.W.B. 1967. The family Turridae in the Indo-Pacific. Part 1a. The Turrinae concluded. Indo-Pacific Mollusca 1(7): 409–443, pls 298-317
• Wilson, B. 1994. Australian marine shells. Prosobranch gastropods. Kallaroo, WA : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 2 370 pp.

External links

• Hedley, C. 1922. A revision of the Australian Turridae. Records of the Australian Museum 13(6): 213-359, pls 42-56 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
• Tucker, J.K. (2004). "Catalog of recent and fossil turrids (Mollusca: Gastropoda)" (PDF). Zootaxa. 682: 1–1295. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.682.1.1.