Aesopus pallidulus | |
---|---|
Shell of Aesopus pallidulus (holotype in the Australian Museum) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
Subclass: | Caenogastropoda |
Order: | Neogastropoda |
Family: | Columbellidae |
Genus: | Aesopus |
Species: | A. pallidulus
|
Binomial name | |
Aesopus pallidulus (Hedley, 1906)
| |
Synonyms [1] | |
Mitromorpha pallidula Hedley, 1906 (superseded combination) |
Aesopus pallidulus is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Columbellidae, the dove snails. [1]
The length of the shell attains 4.6 mm, its diameter 1.5 mm.
(Original description) The shell is small and narrow with a fusiform shape, tapering to blunt ends. It consists of five oblique whorls, including a protoconch that comprises one and a half whorls. The shell is dull white with two narrow, pale brown spiral bands on the body whorl: one at the periphery and the other between the periphery and the siphonal canal. The lower band is more distinct, spreading over five ridges and furrows.
Sculpture: The dome-shaped protoconch features fine, closely spaced radial riblets, ending with a slight varix. The teleoconch begins abruptly with seven evenly spaced spiral ridges and equal furrows, which gradually increase in size and number. On the body whorl, the ridges total twenty-six, becoming smaller and more crowded towards the anterior. The ridges are square in cross-section, polished, and slightly narrower than the flat furrows, which are radially striated.
The aperture is narrow with an excavate columella. The anal sinus is indistinguishable, and the siphonal canal forms a notch. [2]
This marine species is endemic to Australia and occurs off New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria.