Leucosyrinx kirai is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Pseudomelatomidae, the turrids and allies.
Description The length of the shell varies between 20 mm and 30 mm.
The species is very similar to Leucosyrinx breviplicata in overall shell shape and, in particular, in its spiral sculpture. It is unusually small for a Comitas (reaching only 40 mm), and in its general shell characters it matches species of Leucosyrinx, including a subsutural anal sinus that occupies the entire subsutural ramp.
Therefore, it is provisionally transferred it to Leucosyrinx, pending additional data on radular morphology. Although its shell characters could justify treating it as a synonym of L. breviplicata, it occurs at much shallower depths (50–400 m; Hasegawa et al. 2000: 633), which argues for maintaining it as a separate species for the time being.
Distribution This marine species occurs off the Philippines, Japan and in the South China Sea.
References
External links Powell, A.W.B. 1969. The family Turridae in the Indo-Pacific. Part. 2. The subfamily Turriculinae. Indo-Pacific Mollusca 2(10): 207–415, pls 188–324