Alvania cancellata (da Costa 1778)

Alvania cancellata is a species of minute sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk or micromollusk in the family Rissoidae.

Type of larval development: planktotrophic

Shell 4-5 mm high; protoconch with 3 convex whorls, teleoconch with 4-4.5 whorls, quite solid. Sculpture of protoconch of spiral rows of fine granules, indistinct in optical microscopy; sculpture of teleoconch with a coarse lattice of high spiral cords narrower than the interspaces, and orthocline axial ribs slightly thicker than the cords and bulging at the intersections. Aperture with outer lip thickened, finely denticulated inside, with strong projections terminating the spiral cords on the outer side.

Eastern Atlantic, from the English Channel to Morocco, and throughout the Mediterranean; common in the Canary Islands, Madeira and the Azores, from low tide mark to ca. 50 m alive, to considerable depth as transported shells. Gorringe, Ampère and Seine seamounts, rare in 70-360 m, mostly as dead shells.

Known from seamounts and knolls