(Adams J., 1800)

Description (shell):
The shell is internal, covered over by the mantle, and may reach 2 mm in length. It is oval, fragile and white, having a very wide aperture which is approximately the same length as the spire. Minute sculpture is detectable, consisting of spiral rows of oval dots which occasionally fuse in some areas of the shell.

Animal:
Body very small, up to 5 mm. Body pale yellow with red-brown specks. Cephalic shield rounded posteriorly, slightly angular anteriorly. Posterior quarter very rounded, with gaping mantle cavity. Parapodial lobes less fleshy than in Philine aperta , and body parts more clearly demarcated. Distinguished from Philine aperta mainly by its much smaller size (P. punctata-drawing).

Habitat:
Lower shore, in pools and on silty sand; offshore to 240 m.

Distribution:
Distributed from Greenland, Faroes, Shetlands and NW Europe from Norway to the Mediterranean Sea (Distr. P. punctata). Also found off Helgoland (Harms, 1993).

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Mollusca
Class Gastropoda
Subclass Opisthobranchia
Order Cephalaspidea
Family Philinidae
Genus Philine
Species Philine punctata

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Philine punctata (Adams J., 1800)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Bulla punctata Adams J., 1800
Bullaea alata Forbes, 1844
Ossiania alata; Winckworth, 1932

Harms, J., 1993. Check list of species (algae, invertebtates and vertebrates) found in the vicinity of the island of Helgoland (North Sea, German Bight) - a review of recent records. Helgoländer Meeresunters., 47: 1-34.

Hayward, P.J., Wigham, G.D. & N. Yonow, 1990. Mollusca I: Polyplacophora, Scaphopoda, and Gastropoda. In: The Marine Fauna of the British Isles and North-West Europe. (ed. P.J. Hayward & J.S. Ryland). Clarendon Press, Oxford: 628-730.

Seaward, D.R., 1990. Distribution of the marine molluscs of north west Europe. Nature Conservancy Council.

Thompson, T.E., 1988. Molluscs: Benthic Opisthobranchs (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Synopses of the British fauna (NS), 8: 1-356.

You can continue searching for Philine punctata on one of these Web sites:

Fauna Europaea (animals) | IOPI (plants) | NCBI (genetic)

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