Neptunea smirnia

Neptunea smirnia, the chocolate whelk, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Buccinidae, the true whelks. It was first described to science by William Healey Dall in 1919. The type specimen was collected from the Strait of Juan de Fuca in 114 fathoms of water.[2]

Neptunea smirnia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Clade: Caenogastropoda
Clade: Hypsogastropoda
Clade: Neogastropoda
Superfamily: Buccinoidea
Family: Buccinidae
Genus: Neptunea
Species:
N. smirnia
Binomial name
Neptunea smirnia
(Dall, 1919)
Synonyms[1]
  • Chrysodomus smirnia Dall, 1919

Neptunea smirnia fossils have been identified in pliocene epoch deposits, suggesting that this species is at least 2.5 million years old.[3]

Description

The shell is chocolate brown to tan in color. There are typically five to six whorls. The spiral edge between the whorls, or suture, is quite distinct. The larger two or three whorls may have small ridges, while the remaining, smaller, whorls are completely smooth. The aperture, or opening of the shell, is oval in shape and white in color. The siphonal canal is short and wide. The operculum, which closes the aperture, is horny and brown. Chocolate whelks can reach 11 centimetres (4.3 in) long.[4] The maximum diameter of the shell is roughly half its length.[2]

Habitat and range

Chocolate whelks are found in the northeast Pacific Ocean from Oregon to Southeast Alaska.[5] They are found in Puget Sound[6] They live on soft sea bottoms from shallow waters to 300 metres (980 ft).[4]

gollark: I'm glad the staff team has realized the supremacy of Rust over all other languages.
gollark: I think it would make more sense and be less complex if users actually had to send transactions to transfer money, instead of just letting things make them for them and hoping the things can be trusted.
gollark: That also seems bad.
gollark: Oh, and is there a reason for the system where to pay for things online with a credit card, you have to provide information which allows whoever you give it to to make arbitrary transactions (as long as nobody flags it as fraud or something?).
gollark: Presumably it's for authenticating the reader to the bank too.

References
  1. Fraussen & Terryn (2007). A Conchological Iconography. The Family Buccinidae. Genus Neptunea. ConchBooks (Ed.). World Register of Marine Species.
  2. Dall, William H. (1920). "Descriptions Of New Species Of Mollusca From The North Pacific Ocean Ocean The Collection Of The United States National Museum". Proceedings of the United States National Museum. 56: 322.
  3. Vedder, J. G. (1960). Previously Unreported Pliocene Mollusca From The Southeastern Los Angeles Basin. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. B326.
  4. "Neptunea smirnia, smirnia whelk". www.sealifebase.ca. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  5. White, James Seeley. (1976). Seashells of the Pacific Northwest (1st ed.). Portland, Or.: Binford & Mort. ISBN 0-8323-0232-5. OCLC 1991906.
  6. "PNW-Marine-Molluscan-Biodiversity". www.bily.com. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.