Argyropeza

Argyropeza is a genus of small, deep-sea sea snails belonging to the family Cerithiidae. Its name likely comes from the Greek *arguropeza*, meaning "silver foot," an epithet Homer used for the sea nymph Thetis. These snails have thin, glassy shells and are found on continental slopes and around island groups across the Indo-Pacific, including the Arabian Sea, Australia, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, and South Africa. They are detritivores, feeding on detritus and soft sediment.

The genus is closely related to *Bittium*, but its shells are thinner and more vitreous, with a more deeply impressed suture. Taxonomically, *Argyropeza* is currently placed in the subfamily Bittiinae within Cerithiidae, though it has been assigned elsewhere. It has been grouped with Litiopidae or Cerithiinae, and also with Procerithiidae due to its resemblance to the Triassic fossil *Crypaulax*—a classification that would make living *Argyropeza* species living fossils. According to Bouchet & Rocroi (2005), it belongs to the subfamily Cryptaulacinae in Procerithiidae. Bandel (2006) placed it in the newly described subfamily Argyropezinae, also within Procerithiidae.

These snails are small, measuring 6 to 8 mm in length. Their elongated shells have a pointed spire with a smooth tip, and the number of whorls ranges from 9 to 12. The shell is sculpted with low axial ribs, and each whorl bears two spiral ribs with sharp nodules. The ovate aperture has a prominent siphonal canal and a weak anal canal, and is closed by a thin, corneous, multispiral, almost circular operculum. The outer lip is thin, and the columella is concave. The protoconch has 3½ whorls and is sculpted with two spiral lirae.

Little was known about the soft parts until Richard S. Houbrick's 1980 study. The animal has a long siphon, and its cephalic tentacles have eyes at their bases. The taenioglossate radula features a quadrate rachidian tooth, flanked on each side by a trapezoidal lateral tooth and two long marginal teeth. The larvae are pelagic.

Species in the genus include: *Argyropeza divina*, *A. izekiana*, *A. leucocephala*, *A. philippinensis*, *A. sculpturata*, *A. schepmaniana*, †*A. spina*, and *A. verecunda*.