rissoid gastropod Onoba (Onoba) turqueti

Onoba (Onoba) turqueti is found throughout Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula, South Shetland Islands, South Orkney Islands, and Burdwood Bank from 4 to 362 meters depth [1,3,4]. The shell of O. turqueti is elongated, up to 3.1 millimeters long, with about 4 1/2 whorls, and colored white to pale yellowish- white [3].


Onoba (Onoba) turqueti has been found in the stomach of fish of the genus Notothenia [3].

Rissoids are small epifaunal gastropods abundant worldwide, feeding on diatoms, microalgae, foraminifers, or deposit feeders [2].

Taxonomic Note: Onoba turqueti was placed in a subgenus Onoba [2]. Previous genera include Subonoba and Rossoa [3].

1: Antarctic Mollusca : with Special Reference to the Fauna of the Ross Sea. RK Dell. Wellington, NZ : Royal Society of New Zealand, 1990. Bulletin 27, Royal Society of New Zealand; 2: A Review of the Genera of the Rissoidae (Mollusca: Mesogastropoda: Rissoacea). WF Ponder. Records of the Australian Museum, Supplement 4, 1985; 3: Rissoaform Gastropods from the Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic. WF Ponder. British Antarctic Survey Scientific Reports No. 108. Cambridge : British Antarctic Survey, 1983; 4: Ross Sea Ecology : Italiantartide Expeditions (1987-1995). FM Faranda, L Guglielmo, A Ianora, eds. Berlin : Springer, 2000. pp. 530-538

Text ©Peter Brueggeman. Photographs ©Canadian Museum of Nature (Kathleen Conlan). Photographs may not be used in any form without the express written permission of Canadian Museum of Nature (Kathleen Conlan).