Relevant Synonyms Bulla fourierii Audouin, 1826 [Egypt] Bulla mica Ehrenberg, 1831 Retusa fourierii (Audouin, 1826) Misidentification Retusa dilatata Pallary, 1904 [Gabès] Retusa dilatata var. minor Pallary, 1904  photo: S. Gofas

SHORT DESCRIPTION Shell small, thin, sub-cylindrical, with sunken spire and about 3 visible whorls, constricted around the middle, and dilated at base. Surface longitudinally striated throughout, but not transversely sculptured. The aperture is somewhat longer than the shell, very narrow above and dilated and pyriform toward the base. Columella without folds. The soft parts have not been described. The animal in other species of this genus can retract completely into its shell. The head-shield is short, produced backwards in two narrow lateral tentacular processes. The short-ovate foot has no parapodial lobes. Operculum absent. Three subtriangular gizzard plates, corneus with two blunt tubercles. color : dead shells are white. common size : about 4 mm. DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS Bogi and Khairallah (1987) proposed the synonym of P. fourierii with both Retusa dilatata Pallary, 1904 and Retusa dilatata var. minor Pallary, 1904. Nevertheless, Tringali and Oliverio (2001) after the examination of syntypes, concluded that both forms are closely related to the Mediterranean Retusa truncatula, from which P. fourierii can be distinguished by its larger size, more dilated lower part of the aperture, and by its definite sculpture covering the entire surface. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY The retusids live in soft bottoms and feed upon foraminiferans or micro-molluscs. habitat : in the Mediterranean this species has been dredged from sandy and muddy bottoms 40-70 m deep (van Aartsen et. al., 1989).

1st Mediterranean record Lebanon, 1987 [no collecting date]. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide: widespread throughout the Indo-West Pacific and Red Sea. Mediterranean: recorded first from Jounieh Bay, Lebanon (Bogi and Khairallah, 1987); successive records from Israel and southern Turkey (van Aartsen et. al., 1989); Cyprus (Buzzurro and Greppi, 1997). ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Common in the Levantine Sea. speculated reasons for success : - MODE OF INTRODUCTION Via the Suez Canal. IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS None.

KEY REFERENCES Bogi C. and Khairallah N.H., 1987. Nota su alcuni molluschi de provenienza Indo-Pacifica raccolti nella baia di Jounieh (Libano) - Contributo I. Notiziario del CISMA, 10: 54-60. Tringali L. and Oliverio M., 2001. The Recent Mediterranean species of the genus Pyrunculus Pilsbry, 1895 (Opisthobranchia: Cephalaspidea: Retusidae). Bollettino Malacologico, 37(5/8): 151-162. Tringali L. and Villa R., 1990. Rinvenimenti malacologici dalle coste Turche (Gastropoda, Polyplacophora, Bivalvia). Notiziario del CISMA, 12: 33-41.   van Aartsen J.J., Barash A. and Carrozza F., 1989. Addition to the knowledge of the Mediterranean mollusca of Israel and Sinai. Bollettino Malacologico, 25(1-4): 63-76. FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

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