Kingdom Animalia Class Gastropoda Superfamily Trochoidea Rank Species | Phylum Mollusca Clade Vetigastropoda Family Trochidae | |
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Cantharidus antipoda is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Trochidae, the top snails.
Contents
Description
The length of the shell varies between 4 mm and 8 mm. The smooth, shining shell has a globose-conic shape. The small shell is composed of four to five convex whorls, the two first very small, convex and depressed; the others very large. The sutures are linear. The body whorl is angled or rounded at the periphery. The base of the shell is slightly convex and impressed in the middle. The height of the spire is a little less than that of the aperture. The shell is subperforate or imperforate and contains a few distant fine spiral lirae, visible only under a good lens, more distinct on the base, and very fine close growth lines. The large aperture is round, acute on the left, and with a flat border on the right margin. Its inside is smooth and highly iridescent. The umbilicus is only indicated and nearly covered by the convex, sharp outer lip. The columella is subvertical, arcuate, simple, slightly expanded and nearly covering the umbilicus. The shell is purplish-black. The upper whorls are iridescent, mostly with dark red spiral bands or green transverse bands, 1 or 2 on the spire whorls, 4 to 5 on the body whorl. Sometimes there are a number of whitish zigzag bands near the aperture. The epidermis is very thin and shining.
Distribution
This marine species occurs off the subantarctic islands of New Zealand