Cirsonella carinata explained

Cirsonella carinata, common name the ridged false-top-shell, is a species of minute sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Skeneidae.^[1]

Description

The height of the shell attains 1.7 mm, its diameter 1.8 mm. The minute, smooth and glossy, cream-colored shell has a turbinate shape. The four whorls have an impressed suture. The body whorl is bluntly keeled at the periphery. There is a sculpture of dense spiral microscopic striae. The base of the shell is rounded. The umbilicus is narrow and deep, and it is surrounded by a callus funicle which expands anteriorly to join the simple lip in an angular lobe. The aperture is subcircular.^[2]

Distribution

This marine species occurs off New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Australia, at depths between 73 m and 200 m.

References

• Cotton, B.C. 1959. South Australian Mollusca. Archaeogastropoda. Handbook of the Flora and Fauna of South Australia. Adelaide : South Australian Government Printer 449 pp
• Iredale, T. & McMichael, D.F. 1962. A reference list of the marine Mollusca of New South Wales. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 11: 1–109

Notes and References

1. Marshall, B. (2013). Cirsonella carinata (Hedley, 1903). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=720338 on 2013-10-02
2. https://archive.org/details/memoirsaustralia4181aust Hedley, C. 1903. Scientific results of the trawling expedition of H.M.C.S. "Thetis" off the coast of New South Wales in February and March, 1898, pt. 6. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 4(1): 326–402