Vexillum cithara

Vexillum cithara
Image of Vexillum cithara (holotype)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Superfamily:	Turbinelloidea
Family:	Costellariidae
Genus:	Vexillum
Species:	V. cithara
Binomial name
Vexillum cithara (Reeve, 1845)
Synonyms [1]
Mitra (Costellaria) georgiiMelvill & Sykes, 1899 junior subjective synonym Mitra arracanensisSowerby II & Sowerby III, 1874 Mitra citharaReeve, 1845 Vexillum (Pusia) cithara(Reeve, 1845)· unaccepted Vexillum arracanense(G. B. Sowerby II, 1874)

Vexillum cithara, common name the harp mitre, is a species of small sea snail, marine gastropod mollusk in the family Costellariidae, the ribbed miters. ^[1]

Description

The length of the shell attains 13 mm.

(Original description)The ovate shell is rather thick. The sutures are impressed. The shell is longitudinally very closely ribbed with narrow ribs. The shell is obtuse. The interstices are transversely latticed. The shell has a purple lead-colour, encircled with a narrow pale zone. The columella is four-plaited. ^[2]

(Described as Mitra arracanensis) The rather short shell is brown, smooth, girt with a white line above the middle. The ribs are rather distant, thin, whitish. The spire is obtuse. The body whorl is oblong, beaded below at the end of the ribs. The aperture is rather short, contracted in the middle, roundly expanded below the middle, narrow at the end. ^[3]

Distribution

This marine species occurs off the Solomon Islands

References

1. Vexillum cithara (Reeve, 1845) . Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species  on 24 April 2010.
2. Reeve, L. A. (1844-1845). Monograph of the genus Mitra. In: Conchologia Iconica, or, illustrations of the shells of molluscous animals, vol. 2, pl. 1-39 and unpaginated text. L. Reeve & Co., London.
3. Sowerby, G. B. II. (1874). Monograph of the genus Mitra. In G. B. Sowerby II (ed.), Thesaurus conchyliorum, or monographs of genera of shells. Vol. 4 (31-32): 1–46, pls 352–379. London, privately published

External links

• Melvill, J.C. & Sykes, E.R. (1899). Notes on a third collection of marine shells from the Andaman Islands, with descriptions of three new species of Mitra. Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London. 3: 220–229.