Solariorbis blakei (Rehder, 1944), is another local member of the microgastropod family Tornidae. Larger shells of the species reach only 1.5 mm (about 0.06 inch), but the shell in the images measures only 1 mm! Its shell is flattened, compressed, with the spire projecting ever so slightly in the early whorls. The shell sculpture consists mostly of wavy axial ridges located near the suture (area where two whorls meet) and shell base. The umbilicus is present, but narrow. The Blake Vitrinella has a transparent, glass-like shell, but this may become opaque after the animal dies. The shell in the photos was collected in 2001 by Lois Dunnam at Wulfert Bay, on Sanibel Island.
The Blake Vitrinella, Solariorbis blakei. Photos by James F. Kelly.