Mollusks

“Eastern Seaboard Mollusks” in Social Media

A new Facebook group and Instagram and Twitter accounts were recently created to promote and discuss mollusks of the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. The social media effort is based on "Mobilizing Millions of Marine Mollusks from the Eastern Seaboard (ESB) of the United States," a project recently funded by the National Science Foundation and involving 15 relevant mollusk collections in the country. The Eastern Seaboard of the USA includes 18 states, nearly 6,000 km of coastline, 73,000 k

Shell of the Week: The Waxy Mangelia

One more member of the large family Mangeliidae, Cryoturris cerinella Dall, 1889) reaches about 12 mm (about 0.5 inch) in length. The shell is very elongate, tower-shaped, with a sculpture of 7–8 strongly angled ribs crossed by fine spiral threads.The aperture spans only about ¼–1/5 of the shell length. The shell color is yellowish­–white, changing to (very) light–orange on last whorl.

Shell of the Week: The Diomedes Mangelia

Continuing with the saga of the large family Mangeliidae, Rubellatoma diomedea Bartsch and Rehder, 1939 reaches about 10 mm (0.4 inch) in length, and has distinctly angled whorls, and a typical “lozenge-shaped” shell. The sculpture includes about 7–10 rounded ribs per whorl crossed by fine spiral striations. The aperture comprises about half the shell length, and the color is white with a couple of broad spiral brown bands more evident on the last whorl. #rubellatomadiomedea #diomedesmangelia #m

Shell of the Week: The Star Mangelia

Once again, another member of the hyper-diverse gastropod family Mangeliidae, Stellatoma stellata Stearns, 1872) grows to about 10 mm (0.4 inch) in length, and has distinctly shouldered (angled) whorls. The spire is high, and the aperture occupies about 1/3 of the shell length. There are about 10–12 prominent ribs on each whorl, and the color is yellowish to light-brown, with the inside surface of the aperture darker in color. #stellatomastellata #starmangelia #mangeliidae

Shell of the Week: The False Mangelia

Yet another member of the hyper-diverse gastropod family Mangeliidae, Pyrgocythara filosa Rehder, 1943 grows to about 7 mm (0.28 inch) in length, and has a sculpture of about 10–12 axial ribs that span the entire whorl, each rib abutting the ones in previous whorls. The ribs are crossed by finer spiral lines. The shell color in this species is very distinctive, with each half-whorl divided into an anterior brown part and posterior cream-colored one. #pyrgocytharafilosa #falsemangelia #mangeliida

Shell of the Week: The White Mangelia

Another member of the very diverse gastropod family Mangeliidae, Tenaturris bartletti (Dall, 1889) has a body whorl comprising about half of the shell length in adult individuals, and a proportionately larger last whorl in juveniles. The sculpture consists of about 15 axial ribs crossed by fine spiral threads, and the entire shell surface has a “frosty” appearance. #tenaturrisbartletti #mangeliidae #whitemangelia #sanibel

Shell of the Week: The Spear Mangelia

Ithycythara lanceolata (C.B. Adams, 1850) is a slender-shelled mangeliid gastropod that grows up to 12 mm. The shell sculpture consists 6–8 well-marked axial ribs. Rib may form a “peak” in the middle of each whorl, where the whorl is wider. The shell is relatively abundant off the East Coast of Florida, but is also present in the Gulf of Mexico. The shell is usually white, but may present reddish-brown hues, mostly at the anterior end. The shell in the illustration was collected in December 1997

Upside-down Baby!

In gastropod mollusks, the larval shell ("baby" shell, or protoconch), is usually retained in the apex (the "tip") of the adult shell. After metamorphosis from larva to adult, there may be differences in color, thickness, and texture between the protoconch and the adult shell, but usually the direction of coiling stays the same with growth. Gastropods with a right-handed larval shell continue to grow a right-handed adult shell, and vice versa.An exception to this same‐coiling-direction "rule" is

Shell of the Week: The Brown-tip Mangelia

Kurtziella atrostyla (Tryon, 1884) is a relatively common gastropod along both coasts of Florida. Its elongate shell may have up to 7–8 whorls, reaches only about 9 mm (about 0.36 inch), and is decorated with 8–10 axial (lengthwise) ribs and fine spiral (“across-shell”) striations. The shell is white, with reddish-brown suture (area where two whorls join) and inner part of the aperture (“opening”). #kurtziellaatrostyla #mangeliidae #spiral #axial #mageliidae

A Cool Deep-sea Octopus!

Social media was abuzz recently with this image of a beautiful deep-sea octopus photographed at 1,177 m depth by the crew of R/V Falkor of the Schmidt Ocean Institute, during their recent Visioning Coral Sea expedition off Australia. Michael Vecchione, Curator of Cephalopoda at the Smithsonian, identified it as a species of the genus Muusoctopus. I wrote about another species of Muusoctopus in the November 29, 2019 issue of this blog, briefly describing the "Octopus Garden." This is a large, imp