Curved Needle-Pteropod

Creseis virgula

Molluscs
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth0–255 m
Water temperature10–30 °C
Best monthsJuly, August, and November
How commonOccasional

All species

Photo credit: (c) Mathijs Zonneveld, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Creseis virgula is a species of gastropods belonging to the family Creseidae. The larvae are zooplankton.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Creseis virgula”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 6 records
February: 4 records
March: 17 records
April: 13 records
May: 8 records
June: 6 records
July: 25 records
August: 33 records
September: 12 records
October: 21 records
November: 26 records
December: 7 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–255 m · Deepest record: 2,000 m

0–10 m: 39 records
10–20 m: 1 records
20–30 m: 5 records
30–40 m: 3 records
40–50 m: 4 records
50–60 m: 12 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 14 records
80–90 m: 3 records
90–100 m: 1 records
100–110 m: 6 records
110+ m: 20 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 10–30 °C

10–12 °C: 5 records
12–14 °C: 1 records
14–16 °C: 5 records
16–18 °C: 7 records
18–20 °C: 10 records
20–22 °C: 18 records
22–24 °C: 51 records
24–26 °C: 40 records
26–28 °C: 55 records
28–30 °C: 66 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: Curved Needle-Pteropod

Names in 4 more languages

Spanish: pterópodo de aguja curva
Japanese: ツメウキヅノガイ
Korean: 떠돌이갈고리고둥
Simplified Chinese: 企鵝角駝蝶螺

Other scientific names: Cleodora (Creseis) virgula, Cleodora falcata, Cleodora munda, Cleodora placida, Creseis caligula, Creseis corniformis, Creseis cornucopiae, Creseis unguis, Creseis virgulata, Hyalaea (Cleodora) corniformis, Styliola africana

Similar species

Needle Sea Butterfly
Creseis acicula

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
516 open-data records from 1828 to 2023.
Species data updated November 1, 2026.

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