Atlanta brunnea Gray, 1850
As the name suggests, this species is usually an orange-brown or red-brown colour. It is thought to be the most ‘primitive’ species of Atlanta.
Synonyms:
Atlante brune
Atlanta fusca Souleyet, 1852
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The shell spire is tall, triangular conical in shape and heavily ornamented with zig-zag spiral lines.
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The spire has 3¾ to 4 whorls
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A prominent spiral ridge runs along the outer edge of the whorls in the spire, but stops at the end of the juvenile shell.
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There is a single adult whorl that is encircled by a tall, colourless keel. The maximum shell size is ~2 mm.
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The spire is always brown and the adult whorl is also sometimes brown.
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The aperture is rounded.
Similar species:
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Further reading and images:
Seapy, R.R. 2011. Atlantidae. In: Tree of life web project. Available at http://tolweb.org/Atlantidae accessed 1 April 2017.
Seapy, R.R. 1990. The pelagic family Atlantidae (Gastropoda: Heteropoda) from Hawaiian waters: a faunistic survey. Malacologia, 32: 107–130.
Wall-Palmer, D., Burridge, A.K., Goetze, E., Stokvis, F., Janssen, A.W., Mekkes, L., Moreno-Alcántara, M., Bednaršek, N., Schiøtte, T., Vinther Sørensen, M., Smart, C.W., Peijnenburg, K.T.C.A. Biogeography and genetic diversity of the atlantid heteropods. Progress in Oceanography, 160:1–25. doi: 10.1016/j.pocean.2017.11.004
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Wall-Palmer, D., Metcalfe, B., Leng, M.J., Sloane, H.J., Ganssen, G., Vinayachandran, P.N., Smart, C.W. Vertical distribution and diurnal migration of atlantid heteropods. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 587: 1–15. doi: 10.3354/meps12464.
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Wall-Palmer, D., Smart, C.W., Kirby, R., Hart, M.B., Peijnenburg, K.T.C.A., Janssen, A. W. 2016. A review of the ecology, palaeontology and distribution of atlantid heteropods (Caenogastropoda: Pterotracheoidea: Atlantidae). Journal of Molluscan Studies, 1-14.
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