Litiopa melanostoma

Litiopa melanostoma, common name the brown Sargassum shell, is a species of very small sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk or micromollusk in the family Litiopidae.[1]

Litiopa melanostoma
Litiopa melanostoma sea snail (Rang, 1829), juvenile shell, originally from Puerto Rico
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Caenogastropoda
clade Sorbeoconcha
Superfamily:
Cerithioidea
Family:
Litiopidae
Genus:
Litiopa
Species:
L. melanostoma
Binomial name
Litiopa melanostoma
(Rang, 1829)
Synonyms
  • Abaconia naufraga (Clench, 1938)
  • Bombyxinus uva Bélanger in Lesson, 1831
  • Buccinum litiopa Quoy & Gaimard, 1833
  • Litiopa bombix Kiener, 1833
  • Litiopa decussata Gould, 1852
  • Litiopa divisa Carpenter, 1855
  • Litiopa grateloupeana Drouet, 1858
  • Litiopa maculata Rang, 1829
  • Litiopa nitidula Pfeiffer, 1840
  • Litiopa striata Pfeiffer, 1840

Distribution

This species occurs in the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico and off the Azores; in the North Atlantic Ocean, off Newfoundland.

Description

Litiopa melanostoma (Sargassum Snail) has been found to have a maximum recorded shell length of 6 mm.[2]

Habitat

The minimum recorded depth for this species is 0 m; the maximum recorded depth is 805 m.[2] The snail is known to live on floating beds of Sargassum.

References
  1. Litiopa melanostoma (Rang, 1829). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 17 May 2010.
  2. Welch J. J. (2010). "The "Island Rule" and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". PLOS One 5(1): e8776. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008776.
  • Rang S. (1829). Notice sur le Litiope, Litiopa, genre nouveau de Mollusque astéropode. Annales des Sciences Naturelles 16: 303–307 page(s): 307
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