''Antalis vulgaris'', commonly known as the common tusk shell, is a species of
scaphopods mainly encountered on sandy bottoms from 5 to 1000 meters depth.
Description
''Antalis vulgaris'' is a small
mollusc
Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...
of 3 to 6 cm length with a characteristic elephant tusk shape. Its shell is opaque white and displays closely spaced longitudinal striations on the posterior portion. The anterior aperture (thinnest end) is circular and is occluded by a septum with a central pipe bearing a circular orifice.
Distribution
The common tusk shell is found from south-western
United Kingdom to western
Mediterranean.
Behaviour
Diet
The species stands vertically in soft grounds and search the sand with specific adhesive tentacles (captacula) for small benthic species such as
foraminifera.
Reproduction
Separated sexes. The fecundation is external and gives rise to planktonic larvae called
trochophore.
Similar species
* ''
Antalis entalis
''Antalis'' is a genus of tusk shells, marine scaphopod mollusks.
Species
Species within the genus ''Antalis'' include:
* '' Antalis agilis'' (M. Sars in G.O. Sars, 1872)
* '' Antalis albatrossae'' Scarabino, 2008
* '' Antalis alis'' Scarabino ...
'' (
Linnaeus, 1758) is smaller (4cm), has a pyriform-shaped anterior orifice and has no longitudinal striations.
* ''
Fustiaria rubescens
''Fustiaria'' is a genus of scaphopods in the order Dentaliida and is the only genus comprising the family Fustiariidae, with 24 species. MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Fustiaria Stoliczka, 1868. Accessed through: World Register of Mar ...
'' (
Deshayes, 1825) is smaller (3.5cm) and has a pink coloration.
* ''
Ditrupa arietina'' (
O. F. Müller
O is the fifteenth letter of the modern Latin alphabet.
O may also refer to:
Letters
* Օ օ, (Unicode: U+0555, U+0585) a letter in the Armenian alphabet
* Ο ο, Omicron, (Greek), a letter in the Greek alphabet
* O (Cyrillic), a letter of the ...
, 1776) is an
annelid
The annelids (Annelida , from Latin ', "little ring"), also known as the segmented worms, are a large phylum, with over 22,000 extant species including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches. The species exist in and have adapted to various ecol ...
belonging to the
polychaete class and living in a calcified conical tube.
References
Scaphopods
Gastropods described in 1778
Taxa named by Emanuel Mendes da Costa
{{Scaphopod-stub