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ELLOBIIDAE |
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Leuconopsis inermis Hedley, 1901 Description: Shell up to 6 whorls, apex blunt, aperture about 50% of total shell length. Spire convex in outline, whorls rounded, suture channelled. Shell surface with fine spiral grooves, about 20 on last whorl; usually obscured by erosion. Inner lip of aperture with 1 strong fold below middle and a weaker curved fold below that deep in aperture. Outer lip sharp. Shell colourless translucent, becoming opaque white with age. Size: Up to 3.5 mm in length. Distribution: Endemic to Australia. The Australian Museum collection holds specimens from Port Stephens, NSW, southward to Green Cape, NSW. Habitat: Lives on solid substrates in the upper littoral of estuaries. Comparison: A similar species, Leuconopsis pellucida (D. Cooper, 1841), occurs in southern Australia, including Tasmania. It may be the same species, but I have insufficient specimens to make the comparison. It is suspicious that one species reaches from NSW to the Victoria-NSW border and the other extends from the border into southern Australia. Remarks: Excellent figures are given by Denis Riek on his website at http://www.roboastra.com/Mollusc5/brpr545.htm One of Riek's figures is reproduced here as Fig. 3. Fig. 1: Middle Harbour, Sydney, NSW (C.308138). Fig. 2: Kurnell, Sydney, NSW (C.350342). Fig. 3: Brunswick River, NSW. Image by Denis Riek, 2014. |
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