Melanochlamys cylindrica
species of mollusc
Melanochlamys cylindrica is a species of bubble snail in the family Aglajidae. It is endemic to New Zealand.
Distribution and habitat
M. cylindrica is found on the coast of New Zealand's North and South Islands. It is absent from the Three Kings Islands/Manawatāwhi due to a lack of suitable habitat.
Description
Adults are between 15 and 25 mm in length but may reach a maximum size of 30 mm. Body is long and cylindrical in shape with a uniformly black colour that may feature an iridescent blue sheen. The head shield is rounded with an indentation that may resemble two 'tails'. The parapodia are small and held tightly against sides of body. A large muscular mouth part (known as the buccal bulb) is contained in the anterior half of the body cavity.
Shell
This species has a smaller than usual internal shell that is 6 mm long and 5 mm wide.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Melanochlamys cylindrica” is species of mollusc. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Melanochlamys, cylindrica and species, not as a finished interpretation.
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This entry incorporates text from “Melanochlamys cylindrica” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.