(Lovén, 1846)

Description (shell):
Shell tall, slender and glossy. Spire nearly flat-sided, slightly cyrtoconoid. The diameter of the bulbous protoconch is usually marginally greater than that of the first postlarval whorls. The first whorl of the protoconch is smooth, the second has many crescentic axial ridges. Whorls (up to eighteen in all) with spiral ridges and costae, the former the more obvious. The spiral ridges (3-4 on each whorl of the spire, 4-5 on the last) are narrower than the intervening spaces and are marked by small tubercles where they meet the costae, of which there are 24 on each whorl. The most basal spiral ridge on the last whorl is usually smooth. Aperture small, quadrangular, with oblique siphonal canal. Last whorl occupies 30-40 % of shell height, aperture about 20 %.

Size:
Up to 12 x 4 mm.

Colour:
Yellowish white or white.

Animal:
The flesh is white. There are two slender tentacles which appear curved and ringed, with an eye at the base of each. The foot is long and narrow.

Habitat:
Animals have been found on soft bottoms 40-400 m deep.

Distribution:
From Mediterranean to Iceland (Distr. C. metula).

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Mollusca
Class Gastropoda
Subclass Prosobranchia
Superorder Caenogastropoda
Order Neotaenioglossa
Suborder Ptenoglossa
Family Cerithiopsidae
Genus Cerithiella
Species Cerithiella metula

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Cerithiella metula (Lovén, 1846)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Cerithium metula Lovén, 1846
Cerithium bicinctum Jeffreys, 1867 non Cerithium bicinctum Risso, 1826
Cerithium danielsseni Friele, 1876
Cerithium procerum Jeffreys, 1877 non Cerithium procerum Kiener, 1841 non Cerithium procerum Eichwald, 1868
Lovenella whiteavesi Verrill, 1880
Cerithiella hanleyana Monterosato, 1884
Cerithium gracile Jeffreys, 1885 non Cerithium gracile Lamarck, 1804 non Cerithium gracile Anton, 1838 non Cerithium gracile Morris, 1854 non Cerithium gracile Sowerby G.B. III, 1855 non Cerithium gracile Pease, 1860
Cerithiopsis bizonalis Jeffreys, 1885
Cerithium metulatum Locard, 1886
Cerithiella macrocephala Dautzenberg & Fischer H., 1897
Cerithium nitidum Forbes in Mc Andrews & Forbes

Graham, Alastair F.R.S., 1988. Molluscs: Prosobranch and Pyramidellid Gastropods. Synopses of the British fauna (NS), 2: 1-662.

Seaward, D.R., 1990. Distribution of the marine molluscs of north west Europe. Nature Conservancy Council.

No distribution map was available at OBIS the last time we checked. Retry now.

You can continue searching for Cerithiella metula on one of these Web sites:

Fauna Europaea (animals) | IOPI (plants) | NCBI (genetic)

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