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  • José H. Leal

Shell of the Week: The White Triphora


The White Triphora, Sagenotriphora candidula. Photos by Patricia A. Starkey.

Sagenotriphora candidula Rolán & Lee, 2008 is a Floridian species of the family Triphoridae, a group of microgastropod mollusks known to inhabit sponge colonies. Triphorids are almost always left-handed. The 5-mm (about 0.2 inch) White Triphora is characterized by its pure white color and a multispiral (many-whorled), translucent-brown protoconch (larval shell), with a reticulated sculpture on its first whorl. Other features of shell and radula also distinguish this species from its closest relatives. The shell illustrated was collected on Captiva Island by Joan Lightfoot, and is a paratype, one of the specimens studied and illustrated by Emilio Rolán and Harry G. Lee in the original species description. (The shell has been coated with metal for scanning electron microscopy.)


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