Laevipilina cachuchensis, a new neopilinid (Mollusca: Tryblidia) from off north Spain

Abstract

A new tryblidian species, Laevipilina cachuchensis, is described from a depth of 580-600 m on 'El Cachucho' Bank (Asturias, north Spain). This resembles the three described species of Laevipilina McLean, 1979, differing mainly in shell characters (height/length ratio, apex position, size of prisms forming prismatic layer, relative size and arrangement of insertion areas of dorsoventral muscles), and details of radular morphology. Two living specimens (1.9 and 1.6 mm in length) were found on ferromanganese laminar nodules. The digestive content is of organic particles, sediment and fragments of foraminiferans and radiolarians. © The Malacological Society of London 2005, all rights reserved.