Marine Species Identification Portal : Eulimella acicula

(Philippi, 1836)

Description (shell):
Shell a slender cone with blunt tip; whorls slightly convex in profile, often flatter at periphery, sutures rather deep. There are 7-8 postlarval whorls, each in some shells with a minute subsutural shelf. Last whorl is rounded rather than angulated and occupies about 40 % of shell height. Whorls are smooth to naked eye but marked with microscopic spiral and growth lines. Aperture is oval and occupies about a quarter of shell height. The base of the aperture is rounded and may be a little out-turned and there may be a shallow umbilical groove. No umbilicus present. Tooth is slight.

Size:
Up to 3 x 1 mm.

Colour:
White.

Animal:
The head has two moderately long triangular tentacles, each grooved laterally, and each with an eye at the base of its median edge. The mentum is grooved dorsally and is bifid at its tip where the proboscis opens. The exhalant projection at the right extremity of the mantle skirt is obvious. White in general, mentum grey, each tentacle with a central white line along it.

Habitat:
The animals live on muddy sand 20-400 m deep.

Distribution:
This is a southern species with a range from the Black Sea to southern Scandinavia, excluding the southern half of the North Sea (Distr. E. acicula).

Eulimella acicula