Marine Species Identification Portal : Psiloteredo megotara

(Hanley in Forbes & Hanley, 1848)

Description (shell):
Shell similar to Nototeredo norvegica except that the auricle is recurved and projects above the dorsal line and is proportionately larger and not separated from the rest of the inside of the shell by a deep ridge. Pallets are paddle-shaped, white, 12.7 mm or less in length with a short pointed handle, less than one-quarter as long as the blade and running into it as a smooth ridge to its end. The blade is thin, convex to the outside and on this surface has a terminal semi-circular cutaway impression exposing the internal laminated layers.

Size:
Up to 13 mm in length.

Animal:
Worm-like animal with enormously developed siphons. For the protection of the body a chalky tube is secreted. At the mouth of this tube the animal has developed a pair of accessory valves - pallets - the handles of which are attached to the body. The oval blades of the pallets serve to close up the tube when the siphons have been withdrawn.

Habitat:
Probably lives only in floating timber.

Distribution:
It is widely distributed in the North Atlantic and has been found in drift wood in the Arctic (Distr. P. megotara).

Psiloteredo megotara