Ringicula kurodai Takeyama, 1935

Description

A minute ringiculid snail with a shell about 2.6 mm in length. The shell is more elongate than that of congeners, with weakly inflated whorls and a relatively tall spire. The aperture is narrow and the anterior canal is deep. The shell surface bears fine punctate spiral sculpture, and the aperture is reinforced by columellar folds and a thickened outer lip.

Distribution

According to Okutani (ed.) 2000 (Marine Mollusks in Japan), recorded from Boso Peninsula on the Pacific coast and Sado Island on the Japan Sea coast southward to the South China Sea, on sandy mud bottoms in 5–150 m depth.

Etymology

The specific epithet kurodai honours Tokubei Kuroda, the prominent Japanese malacologist.

Remarks

Originally described by Takeyama (1935) as Ringicula (Ringiculina) pacifica kurodai, a subspecies of the Pacific R. pacifica, the taxon is now treated as a full species.

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References

• Ringicula (Ringiculina) pacifica kurodai n. ssp., Takeyama T. (1935). Review of the Ringiculidae of Japan (Fossil and Recent). Venus. 5(2-3): 69-90.
• クロダマメウラシマ Ringicula kurodai (Takeyama, 1935), 奥谷喬司. (2000). 日本近海産貝類図鑑. 東海大学出版会.