Melanella hypsela is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Eulimidae. The species is one of a number within the genus Melanella.Bouchet, P.; Rosenberg, G. 2015. Melanella hypsela (Verrill & Bush, 1900). In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=419846 on 2015-08-27.
Distribution This species occurs in the following locations:Queiroz et al. (2013). "New host records to Melanella (Caenogastropoda: Eulimidae) from the Brazilian coast". Marine Biodiversity Records 6: e67. . Bermuda Bahamas West Indies Brazil (Trindade Island, Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul)
Description The maximum recorded shell length is 8 mm., its diameter 2.5 mm. Welch J. J. (2010). "The “Island Rule” and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". PLoS ONE 5(1): e8776. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008776.
(Original description) The shell is rather slender and very elongated, consisting of sixteen whorls in the adult, besides a very minute apical whorl. The whorls are very flat, so that the outlines of the spire are rectilinear. The suture is distinct and not impressed, being somewhat oblique (more so than in Melanella amblytera). The body whorl is evenly rounded, as well as somewhat produced and narrowed in front. The aperture is long-ovate, acute posteriorly, and obtusely rounded and somewhat flaring anteriorly and at the columellar margin, with its edge being strongly sinuous in a profile view.
The color is bluish-white, being slightly tinged with brown on the lower whorls and having a strong brown tint showing through by transparency on most of the upper whorls; it is sometimes pure white. The surface is smooth and brilliantly polished.
Habitat Minimum recorded depth is 15 m. Maximum recorded depth is 525 m.
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