Mitrella gervillii

Mitrella gervillii
Two views of a shell of Mitrella gervillii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
(unranked):	clade Caenogastropoda clade Hypsogastropoda clade Neogastropoda
Superfamily:	Buccinoidea
Family:	Columbellidae
Genus:	Mitrella
Species:	M. gervillii
Binomial name
Mitrella gervillii (Payraudeau, 1826)
Synonyms
Buccinum gervillii (Payraudeau, 1826) Columbella achatina G.B. Sowerby I, 1844 Columbella acuta Kobelt, 1895 Columbella crossiana Récluz, 1851 Columbella decollata Brusina, 1865 Columbella gervillei [sic] (misspelling) Columbella gervillei var. angusta di Monterosato, 1878 Columbella gervillei var. obesula Monterosato, 1878 Columbella gervillei var. rubra Monterosato, 1878 Columbella gervillei var. unicolor Monterosato, 1878 Columbella gervillei var. variegata Monterosato, 1878 Mitra gervillei Payraudeau, 1826 (basionym) Mitra gervillii var. aurea Coen, 1933 Mitrella decollata (Brusina, 1865) Mitrella decollata var. caralitana Schiro, 1978 Mitrella gervillei [sic] (misspelling) Mitrella gervillei gervillei [sic] (misspelling)

Mitrella gervillii is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Columbellidae, the dove snails.^[1]

Description

The length of the shell varies between 10 mm and 20 mm.

The pretty thick shell is smooth, narrow, elongated, and subturreted. It is formed of eight or nine slightly distinct roundish whorls. It is of a fawn color or more or less deep brownish red. It contains some white spots, forming a sort of zone beneath the sutures. It presents also several varieties of color, and some specimens are found which are covered with small grayish points. The whitish aperture is delicately shaded with a pale violet, rather small, narrow, terminated by a straight siphonal canal, short, and very slightly effuse at its extremity. The outer lip is thin and sharp. Its internal edge isdenticulated. The columella lip is covered in front by a pointed callosity, which partially conceals the striae of the base of the body whorl and exhibits a row of five or six small guttules. Sometimes these do not exist. ^[2]

Distribution

This marine species occurs in European waters, off Spain and Portugal, and in the Mediterranean Sea (off Greece)

References

1. Mitrella gervillii (Payraudeau, 1826).  Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 21 June 2012.
2. Kiener (1840). General species and iconography of recent shells : comprising the Massena Museum, the collection of Lamarck, the collection of the Museum of Natural History, and the recent discoveries of travellers; Boston :W.D. Ticknor,1837 (described as Buccinum distortum) (described as Buccinum gervillii)

• Payraudeau (1826), Cat. de la Corse, pl. 8, fig. 21
• Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 180-213
• Petit R.E. (2009) George Brettingham Sowerby, I, II & III: their conchological publications and molluscan taxa. Zootaxa 2189: 1–218

External links

• Gastropods.com: Mitrella (Mitrella) gervillei