Thoristella crassicosta

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Thoristella crassicosta
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Prosobranchia
Order: Archaeogastropoda
Superfamily: Trochacea
Family: Trochidae
Genus: Thoristella
Species: T. crassicosta
Binomial name
Thoristella crassicosta
Powell, 1937

Thoristella crassicosta is a species of minute, deep-water sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc or micromollusk in the family Trochidae, the top snails or top shells.

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[edit] Distribution

This species of trochid is endemic to the deeper waters around New Zealand's Three Kings Islands.

[edit] Habitat

These sea snails are found at depths of about 475 m.

[edit] Description

The shell is small but very solid, depressed conical, and boldly sculptured with a few heavy spiral cords, three on the penultimate, with a weak thread in each interspace, and four stronger cords on the base. The umbilical area is very narrow and almost completely filled with callus.

The shell coloration is pale buff, light brown in the spiral interspaces, and the interior of the aperture is pale iridescent.

The shell height is up to 3.7 mm, and width up to 4.5 mm.

[edit] References