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EATONIELLIDAE |
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Eatoniella melanochroma (Tate, 1899) Description: Shell minute, relatively tall-spired, last whorl rather swollen. Spire outline weakly convex. Protoconch of 1½ whorls. Teleoconch up to 3¼ convex whorls. No spiral or axial sculpture. Aperture oval, flared anteriorly; outer lip straight or weakly sinuate in profile. Umbilicus closed. Shell opaque, dark grey or black, often light grey and translucent before outer lip. Size: Up to 1.9 mm in length. Distribution: Endemic to Australia; southern NSW, southwards and around southern Australia to south-western WA, including Tasmania. Habitat: "On algae and beneath stones in the littoral and shallow sublittoral. Often very abundant" (Ponder & Yoo, 1977). Comparison: This species is similar to E. atrella in colour, but is almost twice the size. See comparison of the genus under Eatoniella atropurpurea. Remarks: This is sometimes abundant in southern Australia, but it only occurs in the south of NSW, presently being recorded from Batemans Bay southwards. Figs. 1, 2: Bittangabee, NSW (C.354493)
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