Kingdom Animalia Class Gastropoda Superfamily Trochoidea Scientific name Solariella varicosa | Phylum Mollusca Clade Vetigastropoda Family Solariellidae Rank Species | |
Similar Solariella obscura, Solariella, Solariellidae, Margarites, Trochoidea | ||
Solariella varicosa, common name the varicose solarielle, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Solariellidae.
Contents
Distribution
This species occurs in European waters, in the northwest Atlantic Ocean, in circum-arctic waters, in the Pacific Ocean from Alaska to southern California.
Description
The maximum recorded shell length is 14 mm. The shell is coarse, usually more or less eroded. It has a yellowish white color over a brilliant nacre. The spire contains with five or more moderately rounded whorls. The nucleus is eroded. The distinct suture is not appressed. The axial sculpture shows numerous somewhat irregular narrow close-set wrinkles, extending over the whorl from the suture to the verge of the funicular umbilicus. The spiral sculpture shows a few spiral lines near the umbilicus. The subcircular aperture is oblique and produced above. The lips are joined over the body by a layer of enamel. The dark-brown operculum is multispiral, with 8 or 10 turns.
Habitat
Minimum recorded depth is 13 m. Maximum recorded depth is 393 m.