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Leucosyrinx

Leucosyrinx is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Pseudomelatomidae.

Last revised
Jul 20, 2026
Read time
≈ 7 min
Length
1,650 w
Citations
5
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Leucosyrinx
Shell of Leucosyrinx verrillii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Superfamily: Conoidea
Family: Pseudomelatomidae
Genus: Leucosyrinx
Dall, 1889
Type species
Pleurotoma verrillii
Dall 1881
Species

See text

Synonyms1

Pleurotoma (Leucosyrinx) Dall, 1889

Leucosyrinx is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Pseudomelatomidae.1

Description

(Original description) The thin shell is white or pale without color pattern. The anal notch lies behind the periphery or at the suture. The sculpture is delicate and consists of spiral keels or threads and often oblique riblets on the shoulder of the whorls. The peripheral keel, if present, is not recurved. The operculum is thin, nucleus apical, scar of attachment small. The larval shell is glassy, rounded or keeled. The other shell characters are as in Pleurotoma. The species type is Pleurotoma verrillii Dall.

This group is intended to contain the operculated species of Pleurotomida which are so characteristic of the archibenthal region. They are distinctly contrasted with the coarse, spotted or maculated shallow-water species of Pleuroma proper, by their thin, white, delicately sculptured shells. They are apart from Drillia by having no subtubular projection of the anal notch when adult and no thick varix to mark their maturity. They are separable from the archibenthal Drillias also by their larger shells, longer siphonal canal, and more inflated habit. The anal notch is generally wider, more rounded and nearer the suture than in the typical Pleurotoma, and the operculum proportionally wider and more delicate.2

(More recent description by Kantor et al.) The shell is small to large, reaching up to about 90 mm in length in Leucosyrinx bolognai. It is narrow to broadly fusiform, with a high spire and a distinct siphonal canal that is medium‑long to long. The shell is uniformly coloured, ranging from off‑white through beige to light brown. The protoconch is paucispiral and small, about 1 mm in diameter, and consists of 1.5–1.75 rounded whorls. The teleoconch whorls are roundly angled at the shoulder, at least on the upper whorls, and bear a well‑defined, concave subsutural ramp.

The axial sculpture consists of usually strong, oblique axial ribs that occupy the shoulder and the area below it, but do not extend onto the subsutural ramp. These ribs may be reduced to mere knobs on the shoulder, or they may reach the periphery and even the shell base. Spiral sculpture ranges from weak to rather strong and is formed by uniform spiral cords, which may be present or absent on the subsutural ramp.

The anal sinus is moderately deep, subsutural, and broadly arcuate. It spans the entire subsutural ramp and merges with a large forward extension of the outer lip. The operculum is narrow to moderately broad and leaf‑shaped, with a terminal nucleus.

The radular marginal teeth are duplex, narrow to broadly lanceolate, and appear rather flat in dorsal view, particularly in the anterior portion or tooth tip. The major limb is pointed, with sharp cutting edges; it is broadest at mid‑length and narrows toward both ends, and it shows a distinct socket on the dorsal surface where the accessory limb embeds. The central formation is very weak to completely absent, represented only by indistinct symmetrical folds of the membrane and, more rarely, by a very weak central cusp.3

Species

Species within the genus Leucosyrinx include:1

Synonyms

References

References

  1. WoRMS (2011). Leucosyrinx Dall, 1889. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=138611 on 2011-03-11
  2. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College vol. 18 (1889)
  3. Kantor, Y. I.; Fedosov, A.; Puillandre, N. (2025). "Revision of the Indo-Pacific species of the genus Leucosyrinx Dall, 1889 (Neogastropoda: Conoidea: Pseudomelatomidae)". European Journal of Taxonomy. 999: 7. Retrieved 7 July 2026.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) This article incorporates text from this source, which is under a CC BY 4.0 license.
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