Ringicula doliaris A. A. Gould, 1860

Description

A small ringiculid reaching about 5 mm in shell length. The shell is thin, ovate and slightly inflated, whitish and translucent. The spire is acuminate, with four rounded whorls sculpted with widely-spaced transverse sulci. The last whorl is ample with a deep suture. The aperture is large with a thin, non-thickened outer lip; the columellar plicae are fine and acute and the parietal plica is small and thin. Distinguished from Ringicula kurodai by its rounder, more inflated shell.

Distribution

Type locality: Hakodate Bay, Hokkaido, on sandy mud at about 11 m depth (6 fathoms). Western Pacific; recorded from Japan.

Etymology

The specific epithet doliaris is Latin for "of a small cask", from dolium ("cask, jar"), in reference to the rounded, barrel-shaped shell.

Remarks

The original description was based on shells brought back by the United States North Pacific Exploring Expedition. A homonymous combination Ringicula doliaris published later by a different author is now treated as Ringicula niinoi.

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References

• Ringicula doliaris, Gould A.A. (1860). Descriptions of new shells collected by the United States North Pacific Exploring Expedition (continued). Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, 7: 323-340, 382-386.
• マメウラシマ Ringicula (Ringicula) doliaris GOULD, 波部忠重. (1961). 続原色日本貝類図鑑. 保育社, 大阪. xii + 183 + 42 pp., 66 pls. [Habe T. (1961). Coloured illustrations of the shells of Japan (II). Hoikusha, Osaka.]
• R. (Rin.) doliaris GOULD, 1860, Higo, S., Callomon, P. & Goto, Y. (1999) Catalogue and Bibliography of the Marine Shell-Bearing Mollusca of Japan. Elle Scientific Publications, Yao, Japan, 749 pp.
• マメウラシマガイ Ringicula doliaris (Gould, 1860), 奥谷喬司. (2000). 日本近海産貝類図鑑. 東海大学出版会.