PYRAMIDELLIDAE

  Adelactaeon amoenus
(Adams A., 1851)

Relevant Synonyms
Monoptygma amoena Adams A., 1851
Pyramidella (Acteopyramis) amoena Dall and Bartsch, 1906
Monotygma amoena (Adams A., 1851)
Kleinella (Acteopyramis) amoena (Adams A., 1851)

Misidentification
-

 photo: G. Buzzuro - E. Greppi    

SHORT DESCRIPTION
Shell cyrtoconoid in sub-adult specimens; more slender, but inflated, when adult. Top whorl heterostrophic; last whorl 2/3 of the total length, inflated, with fragile outer lip. Sculpture present only as flattened spiral cords, with narrow interspaces, covering the surface of the whorls, down to the base.

color : whitish.

common size : 5 mm.

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS
The heterostrophic apex, diagnostic feature of Pyramidellids. A. amoenus, as its congeneric A. fulvus, has no closely related to any of the Mediterranean Pyramidellidae. See A. fulvus for other distinguishing characteristics.

BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY
This species has been found alive in Mediterranean Sea, as a parasite of the bivalve Acanthocardia tuberculata (Linnaeus, 1758) (Oliverio, 1994).

habitat : fine sand, colonised by the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa, at 5 m depth (Oliverio, 1994).

1st Mediterranean record
Israel, 1985 [1978].


DISTRIBUTION
Worldwide : Indo-Pacific. Mediterranean : recorded first in 1978 from Israel, Atlit-Dor as Kleinella amoena (Mienis, 1985b); successively from southern Turkey (Micali and Palazzi, 1992); Cyprus, northern coast (Cecalupo and Quadri, 1996), southern coast (Buzzurro and Greppi, 1997).

ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS
Uncommon but regularly found.

speculated reasons for success :
-

MODE OF INTRODUCTION
 Possibly via the Suez Canal.


IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS
None.


KEY REFERENCES

  • Cecalupo A. and Quadri P., 1996. Contributo alla conoscenza malacologica per il nord dell' isola di Cipro. Bollettino Malacologico, 31(5-8): 95-118.
  • Micali P. and Palazzi S., 1992. Contributo alla conoscenza dei Pyramidellidae della Turchia, con segnalazione di due nuove immigrazioni dal Mar Rosso. Bollettino Malacologico, 28(1-4): 83-90.
  • Giunchi L., Micali P. and Tisseli M., 2001. Report of two new Lessepsian immigrants from Turkey. La Conchiglia, 298: 47-48.

 

  • Mienis H. K., 1985b. Metaxia bacilla and Kleinella amoena: two other Indo-Pacific species from the Mediterranean coast of Israel. Levantina, 54: 619-620.
  • Oliverio M., 1994. On the record of a living lessepsian pyramidellid from Turkey (Heterobranchia, Heterostropha). Notiziario del CISMA, 15: 79-82.

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Last update : December 2003

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