Melanella alba is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Eulimidae. The species is one of many species known to exist within the genus Melanella. Warén A. (1984) A generic revision of the family Eulimidae (Gastropoda, Prosobranchia). Journal of Molluscan Studies suppl. 13: 1-96. page(s): 55Dyntaxa (2013) Swedish Taxonomic Database. Accessed at www.dyntaxa.se [15-01-2013]., available online at http://www.dyntaxa.seBackeljau, T. (1986). Lijst van de recente mariene mollusken van België [List of the recent marine molluscs of Belgium]. Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen: Brussels, Belgium. 106 pp. (look up in IMIS)Muller, Y. (2004). Faune et flore du littoral du Nord, du Pas-de-Calais et de la Belgique: inventaire. [Coastal fauna and flora of the Nord, Pas-de-Calais and Belgium: inventory]. Commission Régionale de Biologie Région Nord Pas-de-Calais: France. 307 pp. (look up in IMIS)Warén A. (2011). Checklist of Eulimidae. pers. com.Petit R.E. (2009) George Brettingham Sowerby, I, II & III: their conchological publications and molluscan taxa. Zootaxa 2189: 1–218.
Description The measured length of a typical shell of this species generally ranges from approximately 10 mm to as large as 19 mm.
(Described in Latin as Eulima porcellana) The solid shell is subulate, white, and opaque. It has a slightly flexuous apex. It consists of thirteen to fourteen flattened whorls, which bear irregular, impressed lateral varices. The aperture is oblong-ovate. The anterior portion of the inner lip is thickened with callus and is scarcely reflected, while the margin of the outer lip is expanded in the middle.
Distribution This species occurs in the following locations at infralittoral and circalittoral levels:
Belgian Exclusive Economic Zone British Isles European waters (ERMS scope) Irish Exclusive Economic Zone Mediterranean Sea North East Atlantic Norwegian Exclusive Economic Zone Portuguese Exclusive Economic Zone Spanish Exclusive Economic Zone Swedish Exclusive Economic Zone United Kingdom Exclusive Economic Zone Wimereux
References
Landau, B. M.; Ceulemans, L.; Van Dingenen, F. (2018). The upper Miocene gastropods of northwestern France, 2. Caenogastropoda. Cainozoic Research. 18 (2): 177-368.
External links Oliver Caro, Mediterranean Seashells and Cave river shells of continental France: image