Leptotrophon levii is a species of marine gastropod mollusc in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails. It was described by Belgian malacologist Roland Houart in 1995 in a study of the Trophoninae of the New Caledonian region. The species is known from deep water off New Caledonia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.
Taxonomy Houart described Leptotrophon levii in 1995 as part of a systematic treatment of Trophoninae collected during French oceanographic expeditions in the New Caledonian region.
The holotype is preserved in the mollusc collection of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN) in Paris under catalogue number MNHN-IM-2000-962.
The species is recognized as Leptotrophon levii Houart, 1995 by the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), where it is assigned Aphia ID 399178.
It is also listed in the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's COPEPEDIA taxonomic database, which associates the species with WoRMS identifier 399178.
Description Leptotrophon levii is a small muricid gastropod. The holotype held by the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle measures approximately 7 mm.
The species was described from material examined by Houart in his 1995 revision of the Trophoninae of the New Caledonian region. Like other members of Leptotrophon, it is characterized taxonomically through features of its shell morphology.
Distribution Leptotrophon levii is known from the waters surrounding New Caledonia.
The holotype was collected from Mont Éponge on the Norfolk Ridge, south of New Caledonia, during the CHALCAL 2 oceanographic expedition. It was collected at station DW72 on 28 October 1986 by Philippe Bouchet, Bernard Métivier and Bertrand Richer de Forges aboard the research vessel Coriolis.
The type locality is recorded by the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle at approximately , at a depth of 527 m. Houart's taxonomic work documents the species from deep-water sampling in the New Caledonian region.
Collection history The holotype was obtained during CHALCAL 2, one of a series of oceanographic expeditions that sampled the marine fauna of the New Caledonian region. The specimen is catalogued as MNHN-IM-2000-962 and is designated as the holotype in the MNHN collection.
The museum record identifies the collectors as Bouchet, Métivier and Richer de Forges and records the specimen's collection aboard the oceanographic research vessel Coriolis.
The species was subsequently included among the molluscs recorded during deep-sea malacological exploration of the South and West Pacific.
References
External links
MNHN Paris: holotype