Otukaia kiheiziebisu is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Calliostomatidae.[2]

Otukaia kiheiziebisu
Drawing of the apertural view of the shell of Otukaia kiheiziebisu
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Vetigastropoda
Order: Trochida
Superfamily: Trochoidea
Family: Calliostomatidae
Genus: Otukaia
Species:
O. kiheiziebisu
Binomial name
Otukaia kiheiziebisu
(Otuka, 1939à[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Calliostoma kiheiziebisu Otuka, 1939
  • Calliostoma (Otukaia) kiheiziebisu Otuka, 1939

The type specimens were collected by amateur conchologist Mr. Kiheizi Oosima in 1938.[1] The specific name kiheiziebisu is in honour of him. The new species was originally described as Calliostoma kiheiziebisu by the Japanese malacologist Yanosuke Otuka (1903-1950) in 1939.[1]

Otukaia kiheiziebisu is the type species of the genus Otukaia Ikeba, 1942.[3]

Some authors recognize Otukaia as a separate genus.[4]

Description edit

 
Drawing of the apex of the shell of Otukaia kiheiziebisu.

The shell is large, conical, thin, semitransparent, pale cinnamon pink in colour with pearly lustre. The shell has 8.5 whorls. One and a half coils of nuclear portion of whorls are rounded in outline, smooth, polished on the surface. Subsequent whorls are sculptured with four strong, beaded spiral keels and very fine lines, which are only visible under a magnifying lens, and with fine oblique lines of growth. The uppermost spiral keel is situated on the subsutural area. The second and the third spiral keels divide the surface of the whorl into three parts with unequal intervals; the uppermost part is the broadest, having angle of about 120° to the middle one, weakly sculptured with a thread and many exceedingly fine spiral lines near the body whorl. The lowest one is the narrowest of them all. The lowest spiral keel is concealed with succeeding whorl. The number of beads on the uppermost spiral keel is ca 165-177 on the last whorl, ca 130 on the penultimate whorl, ca 80 on the sixth whorl, ca 50 on the fifth whorl, ca 42 on the fourth whorl, ca 28 on the third whorl and ca 19 on the second whorl.[1]

The base is sculptured with about 40 spiral threads. The inner surface is smooth, pearly lustrous, ornamented with four spiral dull grooves which correspond to the outer keels respectively. The callus extends over the umbilicus to occlude it completely, giving the shape of an oblique columellar end.[1]

The height of the shell is 30 mm. The width of the shell is 33 mm.[1]

The operculum is small, round, horny, thin, translucent, marked with a fine spiral line which coils about 13 in number. The diameter of the operculum is about 13 mm.[1]

Otukaia kiheiziebisu is very similar to Calliostoma kounjiana Yokoyama in general outline, and in sculpture on the surface, but it differs from Calliostoma kounjiana in having the spirally sculptured base and the beaded spiral keels, while Calliostoma kounjiana is quite smooth both on spiral keel and the base.[1] Any other species reported from the northern Pacific has much thicker shell and more complicated sculptures than Otukaia kiheiziebisu.[1]

Distribution edit

The type locality is Kasimanada 600 m in depth, off the east coast of Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan.[1]

References edit

This article incorporates copyright-free text from the reference.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k (in Japanese and English) Otuka Y. (1939). "日本産エビスガヒ屬の一新種 A new Calliostoma from Japan". Venus 9(1): 27–29. CiNii.
  2. ^ a b Otukaia kiheiziebisu (Otuka, 1939). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 6 February 2011.
  3. ^ "Gastropods by Eddie Hardy | Conchology". www.gastropods.com. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  4. ^ Vilvens & Sellanes (2006). The Nautilus 120(1): 15-20.
  • Hasegawa K. (2009) Upper bathyal gastropods of the Pacific coast of northern Honshu, Japan, chiefly collected by R/V Wakataka-maru. In: T. Fujita (ed.), Deep-sea fauna and pollutants off Pacific coast of northern Japan. National Museum of Nature and Science Monographs 39: 225-383.

External links edit