Anatoma aspera is a species of small sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc or micromollusc in the family Anatomidae.
Description The length of the shell of this species varies between 1 mm and 3 mm. The shell is usually grayish-white. Operculum is thin and transparent.
(Original description in Latin) The shell is orbiculate-conical, most elegantly crisped with elevated longitudinal lines, and transversely striated in the interstices. The spire is elevated, almost equaling the aperture.
The shell measures in diameter the same as in height. Its elevated, subglobular shape distinguishes it from all its congeners in Scissurella. There are five very convex whorls, even above the carina (keel), which occupies the middle on the upper whorls. On the body whorl, a distinct angle is present below the carina. The longitudinal striae are very sharp, distant on the upper whorls, and crowded at the base. The transverse lines are much more crowded and much finer. The carina is rough with growth striae. The aperture is almost orbicular, and the umbilicus is very narrow, being wider in younger specimens.
Distribution This species occurs in European waters, the Mediterranean Sea, the northern Atlantic Ocean, and in the West Indies.
References
Bandel, K. (1998). Scissurellidae als Modell für die Variationsbreite einer natürlichen Einheit der Schlitzbandschnecken (Mollusca, Archaeogastropoda). Mitteilungen des Geologisch-Paläontologischen Instituts der Universität Hamburg. 81: 1-120 Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 180–213 Geiger D.L. (2012) Monograph of the little slit shells. Volume 1. Introduction, Scissurellidae. pp. 1-728. Volume 2. Anatomidae, Larocheidae, Depressizonidae, Sutilizonidae, Temnocinclidae. pp. 729–1291. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Monographs Number 7.
External links
Serge GOFAS, Ángel A. LUQUE, Joan Daniel OLIVER, José TEMPLADO & Alberto SERRA (2021) - The Mollusca of Galicia Bank (NE Atlantic Ocean); European Journal of Taxonomy 785: 1–114