Marginella huberti
Encyclopedia
Marginella huberti is a species
of colorful small sea snail
, a marine
gastropod mollusc in the family
Marginellidae
.
.
The inside of the lip of the shell has 15-25 small irregular denticles, plus one very strong isolated denticle near its posterior end. The aperture
is quite high for the genus, and it narrows both anteriorly and posteriorly.
The first two apical whorls are pale brown. The remainder of the shell is beige with tiny ash-grey dots arranged in spiral rows and looser wavy axial lines. There are small dark blotches serially arranged along the suture, and a larger series of crescentic blotches just above the shoulder of the body whorl. The areas between the shoulder and the suture, and along a band on the anterior part of the body whorl, are darker with blurred blotches; some darker blotches or flames are also sometimes visible on the middle part of the body whorl. The outer lip has 15 to 25 dark grey streaks, often clustered in groups of 2 or 3, and mostly visible on the outermost, reflected part of the lip.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of colorful small 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...
, a 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 mollusc in the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by 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 :...
.
Shell description
The shell is 17 to 27 mm in length, 10 to 16 mm in greatest diameter, with a low conical spire and an indistinct suture. The outer lip is thickened, and strongly reflected outward, with a sharp edge overhanging the exterior of the body whorlWhorl (mollusc)
A whorl is a single, complete 360° revolution or turn in the spiral growth of a mollusc shell. A spiral configuration of the shell is found in of numerous gastropods, but it is also found in shelled cephalopods including Nautilus, Spirula and the large extinct subclass of cephalopods known as the...
.
The inside of the lip of the shell has 15-25 small irregular denticles, plus one very strong isolated denticle near its posterior end. The aperture
Aperture (mollusc)
The aperture is an opening in certain kinds of mollusc shells: it is the main opening of the shell, where part of the body of the animal emerges for locomotion, feeding, etc....
is quite high for the genus, and it narrows both anteriorly and posteriorly.
The first two apical whorls are pale brown. The remainder of the shell is beige with tiny ash-grey dots arranged in spiral rows and looser wavy axial lines. There are small dark blotches serially arranged along the suture, and a larger series of crescentic blotches just above the shoulder of the body whorl. The areas between the shoulder and the suture, and along a band on the anterior part of the body whorl, are darker with blurred blotches; some darker blotches or flames are also sometimes visible on the middle part of the body whorl. The outer lip has 15 to 25 dark grey streaks, often clustered in groups of 2 or 3, and mostly visible on the outermost, reflected part of the lip.
Type material
| Holotype No.EE 3659 | 18.8mm x 10.6mm | Manchester Museum |
| Paratype 1 | ... | P. Clover collection |
| Paratype 2 No. 19728 | ... | BMNH |