| Dikoleps nitens | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Vetigastropoda |
| Order: | Trochida |
| Family: | Skeneidae |
| Genus: | Dikoleps |
| Species: | D. nitens |
| Binomial name | |
| Dikoleps nitens (Philippi, 1844) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Dikoleps nitens is a minute species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Skeneidae.
Shell: Similar to S. serpuloides but with a taller, more pointed spire (apical angle 110–115°). Surface glossy, smooth, except occasionally a few spiral lines near the umbilicus. Umbilicus smaller, oval to comma-shaped, partly obscured by an out-turned inner lip. Outer lip with two sinuses: one at the periphery, another basally.
Other features: Four swollen whorls. Aperture ear-shaped; peristome not planar. Umbilicus bordered abaperturally by a spiral ridge arising from the aperture base. Growth lines sinuous, matching outer-lip curvature. Colour white to brownish. Height and width up to 1.5 mm; last whorl comprises 90–95% of shell height, aperture 70%.
Animal: Externally like S. serpuloides but lacking the right epipodial tentacle. White.
Recorded from Norway to the Mediterranean; in the British Isles, absent only from eastern Channel and North Sea coasts. Occurs among weeds and in pools on lower rocky shores (L.W.S.T.) and to 100 m depth.