''Tenagodus anguinus'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of unusual

sea snail Sea snail is a common name for slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the ...

, a marine

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusk 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 e ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Siliquariidae ''Siliquariidae'' is a family of sea snails with unusual, very loosely coiled shells. These are marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Sorbeoconcha. Taxonomy The following two subfamilies In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ...

, the slit worm shells.

Description

The shell is thick and irregularly coiled in a gradually tapered spiral, with rather distant whorls. It has longitudinal ridges with spines on them throughout its length. It is generally a dirty-looking white colour, pale yellow or buff. The uncoiled length could be up to .''Siliquaria anguina''
BioSearch. Retrieved 2012-01-11.

Distribution

''Tenagodus anguinus'' is found in the Indian Ocean including around

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

References

* Born I. von (1780). ''Testacea Musei Caesarei Vindobonensis'' (...). Kraus, Vienna pp. XXXVI + 442 + 18 pl: page(s): 440 * Dillwyn, L. W. 1817. ''A descriptive catalogue of Recent shells, arranged according to the Linnean method; with particular attention to the synonymy''. London: John and Arthur Arch. Vol. 2:581-1092 + index 9 pp. page(s): 1079, 1080 * Tryon, G. W. 1886. ''Naticidae, Calyptraeidae, Pyramidellidae. Manual of Conchology 8''. Philadelphia. page(s): 256 * Hartman, Olga 1959. ''Catalogue of the Polychaetous Annelids of the World. Parts 1 and 2. Occasional Papers of the Allan Hancock Foundation'', 23: 628pp * Higo, S., Callomon, P. & Goto, Y. (1999) ''Catalogue and Bibliography of the Marine Shell-Bearing Mollusca of Japan''. Elle Scientific Publications, Yao, Japan, 749 pp * Bieler R. 2004. ''Sanitation with sponge and plunger: western Atlantic slit-wormsnails (Mollusca: Caenogastropoda: Siliquariidae)''. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 140(3): 307-333. * Fauchald, Kristian (2007). ''World Register of Polychaeta''

External links

Bieler, R., 1992. ''Tenagodus or Siliquaria? Unravelling taxonomic confusion in marine "worm-snails" (Cerithioidea: Siliquariidae).'' The Nautilus, 106(1): 15-20 (27 February)
Siliquariidae Gastropods described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Siliquariidae-stub