Micrelenchus micans

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Micrelenchus micans
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Prosobranchia
Order: Archaeogastropoda
Superfamily: Trochacea
Family: Trochidae
Genus: Micrelenchus
Species: M. micans
Binomial name
Micrelenchus micans
(Suter, 1897)

Micrelenchus micans is a species of small sea snail which has a shell with a pearly interior. It is a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Trochidae, the top snails or top shells.

Contents

[edit] Distribution

This species is endemic to Fiordland in the South Island of New Zealand.

[edit] Habitat

This top snail is found at depths of between 18 and 110 m.

[edit] Shell description

This little known species has sculpture of a sharply angled periphery, and a very fine spiral sculpture, there being 13 to 15 flat spirals, separated by linear interspaces, on the penultimate whorl, and 16 to 17 on the base.

The shell coloration varies, but is usually to some extent tesselated and splashed in contrasting shades.

The shell height is up to 3.5 mm, and the width is up to 4 mm.

[edit] References