Crithe is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of minute sea snail

Snail

Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...

s, marine

Marine (ocean)

Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...

 gastropod mollusks or micromollusk

Micromollusk

A micromollusk is a descriptive term for a shelled mollusk which is extremely small, even at full adult size. The word is usually, but not exclusively, applied to marine mollusks, although in addition, numerous species of land snails and freshwater mollusks also reach adult size at very small...

s in the family Cystiscidae

Cystiscidae

Cystiscidae is a taxonomic family of minute sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks or micromollusks.- Description :The shell is minute to large, either white, uniformly colored, or patterned; the surface is smooth, sculptured, or axially costate; the spire is flat to immersed, or low to tall; the...

. This genus is sometimes still placed within the Marginellidae

Marginellidae

Marginellidae, or the margin shells, are a taxonomic family of small, often colorful, sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Neogastropoda.- Taxonomy :...

.

These tiny gastropods have a shell which is colorless and is transparent when fresh.

Shell description

Shell minute to small, white, hyaline; spire

Spire (mollusc)

A spire is a descriptive term for part of the coiled shell of mollusks. The word is a convenient aid in describing shells, but it does not refer to a very precise part of shell anatomy: the spire consists of all of the whorls except for the body whorl...

 usually immersed, rarely low; lip thickened, smooth, lacking denticulation; external varix

Varix (mollusc)

A varix is an anatomical feature of the shell of certain sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs.It is a thickened axial ridge in the shell of some families of gastropods. A varix is located at intervals around the whorl, and is formed by considerable thickening of the outer lip at a resting stage...

 absent; siphonal notch absent; posterior notch absent; collumela multiplicate, with 6-8 plications plus parietal lirae, plications usually excavated inside aperture due to collabral parietal callus ridge.

Species

Species within the genus Crithe include:

• Crithe aldingae (Tate, 1878)
• Crithe algoensis (E.A. Smith, 1901)
• Crithe atomaria Gould, 1860 T
• Crithe cossinea Cossignani, 1997
• Crithe montrouzieri Bavay, 1922
• Crithe nanaoensis Habe, 1951
• Crithe nipponica Habe, 1951
• Crithe tantilla Gould, 1861