Splendrillia flavopunctata is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Drilliidae.Bouchet, P. (2016). Splendrillia flavopunctata Fallon, 2016. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=872159 on 2016-11-21
Description The shell is small, glossy, and spindle-shaped, with a tall spire, reaching a length of up to 18.8 mm. Species treatment republished by Plazi: It has up to 11 whorls, the body whorl making up about 54% of the total shell length. The whorls are convex, with the widest point below the middle of the whorl and a slight sag just above the suture. The aperture is narrow, only slightly wider at its midpoint than the anterior canal. The protoconch (larval shell) consists of about 2½ smooth, rounded whorls.
The axial sculpture consists of low, broad ribs with rounded crests, roughly as wide as the spaces between them, numbering 8–11 on the penultimate whorl and 7 on the body whorl. Spiral sculpture is largely absent, apart from a few fine threads on the shell base and near the anterior fasciole. A hump-like varix lies about a third of a turn back from the edge of the outer lip. The shell is white, marked with two light golden-brown bands running between the ribs above the suture, and the varix bears a reddish-brown patch. The species epithet, from Latin flavus ("gold-coloured") and punctatus ("spotted"), refers to these two rows of golden-brown spots.
Splendrillia flavopunctata closely resembles several other Caribbean species of Splendrillia — S. interpunctata, S. panamensis, S. abdita, and S. bahamasensis — but can be distinguished from each by its shell proportions, whorl convexity, or colour pattern.
Distribution This marine species occurs off Barbados and off the Netherlands Antilles (southeast Curaçao), at depths of about 155–274 m.
References
External links
Original species description at Plazi TreatmentBank Splendrillia flavopunctata at MolluscaBase