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Alaginella brazieri (Smith, 1891)

Diagnosis:  Shell medium in size, colourless transparent to opaque white, very strongly narrowed anteriorly; spire medium height; aperture moderately broad; lip slightly thickened internally, smooth, slightly flared posteriorly; external varix present; posterior notch weak; siphonal notch absent; columella with four strong plaits, the last three twice as high as thick, occupying slightly more than half the aperture.

Size: Up to 5 mm in length

Distribution:  Australian Museum collection: North West Is., central Queensland , to Maria Is., Tasmania , in 210-914 metres.  Australian Museum holds 24 lots, so probably common in its habitat.

Comparison: A. brazieri is similar to A. malina but is larger with a higher spire.  In A. brazieri the spire is almost straight sided, but in  A. malina the spire is concave, with the early whorls protruding nipple-like from an almost flat spire.  The height of the lip also differs; in A. brazieri it is relatively low, but in A. malina it is often higher than the spire.  The habitat differs also; A. brazieri occurs in very deep water, 210-914 metres, but A. malina is shallower, 36-315 metres.

Figs. 1,2: East of Broken Bay, NSW, in 914 metres (C.316001)