Thalassoplanes moerchii
Thalassoplanes moerchii is a species of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the subfamily Parancistrolepidinae of the family Buccinidae, the true whelks.
Description
The length of the shell attains 16 mm, its diameter 11 mm.The shell is short and stout, composed of approximately five whorls, two of which are polished, depressed, and of smooth whorls in the protoconch. The subsequent whorls are uniformly sculptured with narrow, similar, flat-topped, elevated spiral ridges—seven between the sutures and nine or ten on the body whorl. These ridges are separated by much wider, equal interspaces. Seven additional spiral threads adorn the siphonal canal. This primary sculpture is intersected by numerous, equally spaced, flexuous, smaller, elevated axial threads that override the spiral ridges, dividing the channels into rectangular spaces. The entire shell is covered by a thin, fibrous, olivaceous periostracum.
The suture is distinct but not channelled. Whorls are turgid and evenly rounded. The aperture is nearly equal in length to the spire. The outer lip is thin and sharp. The body and inner lip are slightly eroded and white. The columella is short and twisted, with its anterior edge thickened and flaring anteriorly, then obliquely attenuated. The axis is pervious. The siphonal canal is almost obsolete, lacking a siphonal fasciole.
The operculum is thin, brownish, and pinna-shaped. Its small, rounded area of attachment is surrounded by a thick deposit of polished brown callus that extends nearly to the apex.