Pleurotomella packardii

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Pleurotomella packardii is a species of sea snail in the family Raphitomidae and is the type species of its genus Pleurotomella. It was described by A. E. Verrill in 1872.

Shell size ranges from about 15 to 22 mm. The shell is thin, fragile, translucent, and pale flesh-colored, with a somewhat turreted look and 9 whorls. The first 2½ whorls (the protoconch) are nearly smooth and chestnut-colored. The following whorls are shouldered and strongly convex in the middle, but have a smooth, curved band below the suture where the outer lip has a posterior notch. Each whorl has about 16 strong, rounded, oblique ribs, most prominent in the middle; on the body whorl the ribs tilt more and fade toward the front. The spaces between the ribs show faint growth lines and fine, revolving lines that pass over the ribs. The subsutural band has curved growth lines.

The opening (aperture) is broad at the top and elongated below, roughly oval. The outer lip is thin and sharp, with a deep sinus extending over about one-fifth of the whorl’s circumference. The siphonal canal is short and straight. The columella is nearly straight with a sharp inner edge near the end.

Eyes and operculum are absent. The large posterior sinus and the apex features led Verrill to place this species in its own genus, Pleurotomella.

Distribution: Pleurotomella packardii lives in deep-water (bathyal) parts of the northwest Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine.