Spectamen benthicola

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Spectamen benthicola
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Archaeogastropoda
Family: Trochidae
Genus: Spectamen
Species: S. benthicola
Binomial name
Spectamen benthicola
(Powell, 1937)
Synonyms

Zeminolia benthicola Powell, 1937

Spectamen benthicola is a small deepwater sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Trochidae.

Contents

[edit] Distribution

This species is endemic to the Three Kings Islands of New Zealand.

[edit] Habitat

This deepwater top shell lives at depths of about 260 m.

[edit] Shell description

The shell is turbinate, with a deep umbilicus, one sixth the diameter of the base. Sculpture is of narrow sharply raised spiral ridges and dense fine axial threads.

The external shell coloration is lemon-yellow, with radial blotches of darker yellow, and a series of small rectangular reddish-brown blotches at the shoulder angle.

The shell height is up to 5 mm, and the width is up to 5.5 mm.

[edit] References