Cima minima

(Jeffreys, 1858)

Description (shell):
Shell is glossy, nearly transparent, minute, rather columnar, with blunt apex and globular protoconch. With about five whorls; these are rather tumid with deep and distinctly oblique sutures. Last whorl occupies about half the shell height. The shell is devoid of ornament other than growth lines, which are C-shaped. Aperture is oval and occupies nearly a third of shell height. Outer lip has a deep anal sinus and peripheral bulge but only a slight basal eversion. There is a narrow umbilicus.

Size:
Up to 1.3 x 0.5 mm.

Colour:
White or colourless.

Animal:
The head forms a tapering ledge with the opening of an introvert on its underside and the two cephalic tentacles springing from it anteriorly. The animal has no eyes and lacks a ctenidium. A penis arises behind the right tentacle in every animal, which therefore seems to be hermaphrodite. The flesh is white.

Habitat:
Little known as the animals are often found by chance.

Distribution:
The distribution of this species is improperly known since it has almost certainly been overlooked on account of its minuteness (Distr. C. minima).

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