Veleropilina reticulata (Seguenza, 1876)
Mediterranean. Detritus feeder in bathyal depths.
Original taxon: Tectura reticulata.
 
For a long time it has been confused with zografi (Dautzenberg & Fischer, 1896), or considered as an extinct species from the italian Pliocene. « The shell […] is very small, fragile, transparent when fresh, 1.18-1.21 times as long as broad. The height corresponds to 0.32-0.35 of the length. The most anterior part of the apex is situated just above to just anterior to the ventral shell margin. The apical cap […] has a width of 0.15mm, and is smooth except for growth irregularities and 5-6 small, shallow pits. After this follows a zone, width about 0.45mm, with crowded, shallow pits, to some extent radially arranged. » – Warén & Gofas: “A new species of Monoplacophora, redescription of the genera Veleropilina and Rokopella, and new information on three species of the class”, Zoologica Scripta 25(3), july 2005, p.224.

A specimen trawled at 500m deep, off Capraia isola, Tuscan Archipelago, W. Italy. Size about 1,75mm.
« After this zone, growth lines appear, gradually becoming stronger, more crowded, and evenly spaced. They also become slightly undulating, giving an impression of being crossed by a fine radial striation, which gives the whole surface a reticulate appearance. The inside is smooth without visible muscle scars. » – Ibid.
« So far no live taken specimen is known of R. reticulata, but that is no guarantee that all the specimens are Pleistocene fossils and that the species is extinct in the Mediterranean. »

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