Micrelenchus tenebrosus

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Micrelenchus tenebrosus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Prosobranchia
Order: Archaeogastropoda
Superfamily: Trochacea
Family: Trochidae
Genus: Micrelenchus
Species: M. tenebrosus
Binomial name
Micrelenchus tenebrosus
(A. Adams, 1853)
Synonyms

Cantharidus tenebrosus A. Adams, 1853
Trochus huttoni A. Adams, 1876

Micrelenchus tenebrosus 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.

[edit] Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand including the Chatham Islands.

[edit] Shell description

The shell is turbinate to tall-conical, sculptured with spiral cords, few and strong, five to seven on the penultimate whorl. The umbilicus is narrow, often partly covered by a broad reflection of the columellar lip.

The shell coloration is dark bluish to dark greenish grey, the spiral cords darker. The columella and umbilical area is whitish, and the interior of the aperture is greenish or bluish iridescent.

The shell height is up to 9.5 mm, and the width is up to 10 mm.

[edit] References