PYRAMIDELLIDAE

  Syrnola fasciata
(Jickeli, 1882)

Relevant Synonyms
Syrnola solidula fasciata Jickeli, 1882

Misidentification
Syrnola massauensis sensu Micali and Palazzi, 1992 not Hornung and Mermod, 1924

 photo: S. Gofas / Coll. B. Galil    

SHORT DESCRIPTION
Shell relatively solid and slender with conical shape and smooth surface. Apex heterostrophic. Columella with a very well marked tooth; smaller teeth present in the inside part of the outer lip. Some specimens may be somewhat umbilicate.

color : colorless, except for yellowish, sometimes brownish, spiral bands.

common size : 4-5 mm.

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS
A distinctive feature for an easy determination of this species are the yellow-brown bands, making it very distinct from most Mediterranean pyramidellids. The presence of a strong tooth makes it identifiable with certainty. This species is similar to Tiberia minuscula (Monterosato, 1880) for a number of characters, like size, general shape of the shell, teeth inside the outer lip and color, but differs for the presence of the relevant tooth on the columella.

BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY
Pyramidellidae are ectoparasites, mainly of sedentary polychaetes and molluscs.

habitat : among detritus at the margin of a Posidonia oceanica beds at depth of 9 m (Tringali and Villa, 1990: southern Turkey). Dredged at 22 m in Haifa Bay (Bogi and Galil, 1999).

1st Mediterranean record
Israel, 1989 [1958].


DISTRIBUTION
Worldwide : Indo-Pacific . Mediterranean : recorded first in 1958 from Haifa, Israel (van Aartsen et al., 1989); successively from Jounieh Bay, Lebanon (Bogi and Khairallah, 1987); southern Turkey (van Aartsen et al., 1989); Cyprus (Nofroni and Tringali, 1995).

ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS
Uncommon but regularly found.

speculated reasons for success :
-

MODE OF INTRODUCTION
 Possibly 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.
  • Giunchi L., Micali P. and Tisseli M., 2001. Report of two new Lessepsian immigrants from Turkey. La Conchiglia, 298: 47-48.
  • 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.

 

  • 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
 


Last update : December 2003

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