"Oliviform shell with a high spire of several whorls terminating in an obtuse nucleus. Sutures narrowly grooved, the collar of the preceding whorl appressed. No callous wash on the parietal wall. Pillar structure is a low, finely plaited fold at the end of the columella. Fasciole wide and undivided. Internally with a fold at the end of the pillar, the internal walls of the spire-whorls reabsorbed. Operculum present, chitinous. The radular ribbon is very long, with numerous teeth (± 100), the rhachidian tooth tricuspidate.".
Type species by original designation: Voluta jaspidea Gmelin, 1791.
A genus of small species previously considered to be confined to the Caribbean. A clade from the tropical and warm-temperate eastern Atlantic, however, also seems to be assignable to Jaspidella, as demonstrated by the description of the shell, radula (tricuspidate rhachidian) and operculum of Olivella oteroi Bermejo, 1979, from the Canary Islands by Rolán & Hernández (2008). Jaspidella is confined to Atlantic waters, with four species recornised from the Western Atlantic and three (with a query) to the Eastern Atlantic:
The type species is Voluta jaspidea Gmelin, 1791 (see below).
| Species | |
|---|---|
| Jaspidella jaspidea (Gmelin, 1791) |
RV 5804a. USA, Florida, Monroe County, Florida Keys, Little Torch Key, on sandy shoals, 1978. Scale bar is 1 cm. |
| Jaspidella blanesi (Ford, 1898) |
Tropical Atlantic realm. Tropical Northwestern Atlantic province. Figure coming |
| Jaspidella carminiae Petuch, 1992 |
Tropical Atlantic realm. Tropical Northwestern Atlantic province. Figure wanted |
| Jaspidella miris Olsson, 1956 |
Tropical Atlantic realm. Tropical Northwestern Atlantic province. Figure wanted |
| Species | |
| Jaspidella? pulchella (Duclos, 1835) |
Tropical Atlantic realm. West African Transition province. Gulf of Guinea province.
RV 5475a-b. Ghana, Axim, Miemia Bay, by diver, depth 5-10 m, in sand. Scale bar is 1 cm. |
| Jaspidella? sp. Sao Tomé |
Tropical Atlantic realm. Gulf of Guinea province.
RV 1252. Sao Tomé & Principe, Sao Tomé, 1990. Scale bar is 2 mm. |
| Jaspidella? oteroi(Bermejo, 1979) |
Temperate Northern Atlantic realm, Lusitanian province.
RV 5869. Canary Islands, Gran Canaria, SW coast, Punta del Pasito Blanco; depth 1-2 m, in sand, by snorkelling; August 1994. |
Looks similar to Olivella s.l. but has an olivid (tricuspidate) rather that olivellid (pectinate, multicuspidate) type of radula (Bandel, 1984).