Alvania cimex

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

Description
The length of the shell varies between 4 mm and 7 mm.

Alvania cimex and Alvania mamillata may be the same species, according to studies of Oliver et al. (2015), differing only in the larval life span. They share in the phylogram the same 16S and 28S sequences.

The imperforate shell is strong and opaque. It is covered by rounded granules in longitudinal and spiral series. It is white or light fulvous to chestnut color, unicolored or bifasciate. The outer lip is thick, labiate and suleate within, white-varicose externally.

Distribution
This species occurs in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea and in the Black Sea.

Fossils were found in Pleistocene strata near Palermo, Sicily and near Monastir, Tunisia.