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Taxon profile

species

Lissodrillia ebur (Dall, 1927)

kingdom Animalia - animals »  phylum Mollusca - mollusks »  class Gastropoda - gastropods »  order Neogastropoda »  family Drilliidae »  genus Lissodrillia

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Lissodrillia ebur

Author: Fallon, P.J.

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Description

Shell very small (to 8.3 mm) but sturdy, fusiform, surface smooth but opaque; not glossy, of up to about 7,75 convex whorls, peripheries about mid-whorl, the last about 60% of total shell length; suture impressed. Sculptural elements only of ribs; aperture oval, with a short, wide anterior canal and large anal sinus. Protoconch of 1,75 large smooth glossy whorls, the beginning of the first slightly imbedded in the last whorl such that the spire tip appears blunt. The protoconch lip is visible where its glossy-smooth surface meets the contrasting duller, opaque surface of the adult shell. Axial sculpture of low, broad, arched ribs, variable but generally wider than their interspaces, lower and narrower on shoulder in sulcus near suture and fade at anterior fasciole. Rib crests are round. Growth striae microscopic. Varix larger than ribs, about 1/4-1/3-turn from edge of outer lip. Spiral sculpture absent. Sulcus absent, ribs recurved, lower, and narrower in sulcal region. Growth striae also curved reflecting past positions of the anal sinus. Outer lip thin, with low axial folds, smooth, edge slightly inrolled from anal sinus to beginning of anterior canal; stromboid notch absent. Anal sinus a deep notch on whorl shoulder near suture, outer edge divergent and congruent with edge of outer lip such that. Inner lip thin, margined, recumbent; extending over apex of aperture with a weak callus at anal sinus. Anterior canal short but well defined, open, unnotched. Color white.
Fallon, P.J., 2016. Taxonomic review of tropical western Atlantic shallow water Drilliidae.
Shell small, white, solid, with a swollen nucleus of a whorl and a half and five and a half subsequent whorls; suture distinct, not ap¬pressed, with a slightly constricted fasciole in front of it; axial sculpture of (on the last whorl 10-11) rounded flexuous smooth ribs, most prominent at the periphery on the spire, sigmoidly flexed on the last whorl and absent from the base; the interspaces are equal or wider than the ribs; there is no spiral sculpture; the aperture is wide, less than a third of the whole length, the anal sulcus wide and deep, the outer lip very prominently protractively arcuate, the pillar short, the canal short and wide, the axis not pervious. Length, 8; diameter, 3.2 mm. U. S. Nat. Mus. Cat. No. 107948.
Off Fernandina, about 20 specimens.
There are several other species of this family represented by young or fragmentary specimens too imperfect to servo for a satisfactory diagnosis.
Dall, W.H., 1927. Small shells from dredgings off the southeast coast of the United States by the United States Fisheries Steamer 'Albatross' in 1885 and 1886.

Interchangeable taxa

Lissodrillia ebur has the characteristics of the genus: a small smooth shell with a short anterior canal, axial ribs that extend from suture to suture, an outer edge of the anal sinus that is divergent and congruent with the edge of the outer lip, forming a reverse "S" on lateral view of the shell, and a shell that lacks spiral sculpture. Variability. The average length of 11 specimens is 6.09 mm (4.7-8.3 mm); their average W/L ratio is 0.394. Identification. The species is differentiated from its congeners by its opaque, dead-white color and relatively large size for the genus. Its convex whorls are fairly evenly arched in profile, unlike most other congeners with whorls that appear to "sag". Its evenly convex whorls are somewhat reminiscent of those of Lissodrillia turgida, new species but that species is smaller (4.72 mm average total length, the largest = 7.3 mm) and possesses ribs that are more convex. Lissodrillia fasciata, new species has whorls with a similar profile, but is slimmer, translucent and possesses a mid-whorl color band.
Fallon, P.J., 2016. Taxonomic review of tropical western Atlantic shallow water Drilliidae.

Distribution

Type locality. Albatross Station 2668, off Fernandina, Florida, 30°58'N, 79°38'W, in 294 fms [538 m]. Other material examined. An additional 10 specimens were examined that are likely this species: 3 spec, 7.3 x 2.9, 8.3 x 3.1 & 5.9 x 2.4 mm, in 520 m, MRV Lady Lisa, Geryon Crab Survey, 1985-86, Blake Plateau, SE of Charleston, South Carolina, L. Campbell! (L. Campbell coll.); 5 spec, 5.2 x 2.1, 5.2 x 2.0, 5.5 x 2.2,5.0 x 2.1 & 4.7 x 1.9 mm, in 457 m, W of Hillsborough Co., W Florida (ANSP 336398); 2 spec, 6.7 x 2.5 & 5.3 x 2.3 mm, in 308-323 m, about 2 km W offshore of Pinellas Co., W Florida, 27°51.79'N, 84°59.82'W (EFG 25289).
Range and habitat. South Carolina (Blake Plateau); E Florida; W Florida. Reported from 308-538 m.
Fallon, P.J., 2016. Taxonomic review of tropical western Atlantic shallow water Drilliidae.
Author: Jan Delsing

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