Micrelenchus purpureus

Micrelenchus purpureus, common name the red opal top shell, is a species of medium-sized sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Trochidae.

Micrelenchus purpureus
Apertural view of a shell of Micrelenchus purpureus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Vetigastropoda
Order:	Trochida
Superfamily:	Trochoidea
Family:	Trochidae
Genus:	Micrelenchus
Species:	M. purpureus
Binomial name
Micrelenchus purpureus (Gmelin, 1791)
Synonyms
Cantharidus (Mawhero) purpureus (Gmelin, 1791) Cantharidus purpureus (Gmelin, 1791) Helix purpurea Gmelin, 1791 (basionym) Micrelenchus (Mawhero) purpureus (Gmelin, 1791)· accepted, alternate representation Phasianella rubella Menke, 1828 Trochus elegans Gmelin, 1791 Trochus pallidus Hombron & Jacquinot, 1848 Trochus rostratus Gmelin, 1791 Trochus texturatus Gould, 1849 Trochus torosus Kiener, 1850

Description

The length of the shell varies between 16 mm and 32 mm. It grazes on seaweed.

Distribution

This marine species occurs off North Island and South Island, New Zealand.

References

• Kiener, L.C. (1850). Genre Trochus (plates only). Spécies général et iconographie des coquilles vivantes. 11. Rousseau & Baillière, Paris.
• Hombron J. B. & Jacquinot H. (1848 [March]). Atlas d'Histoire Naturelle. Zoologie par MM. Hombron et Jacquinot, chirurgiens de l'expédition. in: Voyage au pole sud et dans l'Océanie sur les corvettes l'Astrolabe et la Zélée pendant les années 1837-1838-1839-1840 sous le commandement de M. Dumont-D'Urville capitaine de vaisseau publié sous les auspices du département de la marine et sous la direction supérieure de M. Jacquinot, capitaine de Vaisseau, commandant de La Zélée. Vingt-quatriéme livraison. Insectes lépidoptéres pls 1,2; Mollusques pls 9, 11, 12.

External links

• "Cantharidus purpureus". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
• Gmelin J.F. (1791). Vermes. In: Gmelin J.F. (Ed.) Caroli a Linnaei Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Ed. 13. Tome 1(6). G.E. Beer, Lipsiae [Leipzig]. pp. 3021-3910
• Menke, K. T. (1828). Synopsis methodica molluscorum generum omnium et specierum earum, quae in Museo Menkeano adservantur; cum synonymia critica et novarum specierum diagnosibus. XII + 91 pp.
• Gould A.A. (1849). [Descriptions of new species of shells, brought home by the U. S. Exploring Expedition]. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History. 3: 83-85, 89-92, 106-108, 118-121 [May 1849], 140-144

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  lateral view
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  lateral view

Further reading

• Powell A. W. B., New Zealand Mollusca, p. 55; William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1
• Marshall, B.A. 1998: The New Zealand Recent species of Cantharidus Montfort, 1810 and Micrelenchus Finlay, 1926 (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Trochidae). Molluscan Research 19: 107-156 (p. 114)