(da Costa, 1778)

Description (shell):
Shell elongate, conical, up to 16 (usually 10-12) moderately tumid whorls; apex pointed. Sculpture of strong costae and spiral striae, interacting to give oval tubercles: four rows on lower whorls, three on upper whorls; no tubercles on lowest spiral ridge of each whorl, or on basal ridges of last whorl. One costa, the varix, often more prominent than rest; varix of last whorl close to aperture. Aperture oval, drawn out to a short sinus basally; outer lip crenulate, without anal sinus. Inner lip reflected over columella region and base of last whorl; no umbilicus (B. reticulatum-drawing).

Size:
Up to 15 x 6 mm, commonly half this size.

Colour:
Buff to light chestnut-brown; tubercles, varices, and columella lighter.

Animal:
Snout long, bifid; cephalic tentacles long, slender with eyes on prominent bulge at base. Mantle edge broadly lobed; foot long, narrow, with doubled-edged anterior margin; large opercular lobe projects posteriorly from below oval operculum.

Habitat:
On soft substrata, associated with Zostera and other weeds; from LWST to 250 m.

Distribution:
Locally abundant. Widely distributed from Canaries to Lofoten Isles; absent from continental shores of the southern North Sea and east Channel (Distr. B. reticulatum).

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Mollusca
Class Gastropoda
Subclass Prosobranchia
Superorder Caenogastropoda
Order Neotaenioglossa
Family Cerithiidae
Genus Bittium
Species Bittium reticulatum

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Bittium reticulatum (da Costa, 1778)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Strombiformis reticulatus da Costa, 1778
Murex acuminatus Pennant, 1777
Murex scaber Olivi, 1792
Cerithium lima Bruguière, 1792
Cerithium granulosum Risso, 1826
Cerithium angustum Deshayes, 1832
Rissoa vulgatissima Clark, 1855
Cerithium afrum Danilo & Sandri, 1856
Cerithium jadertinum Brusina, 1865
Bittium reticulatum var. exigua B.D.D., 1884
Bittium bifasciatum sensu Locard, 1886 non B.D.D., 1884
Cerithiolum paludosum sensu Monterosato, 1884 non B.D.D., 1884
Bittium reticulatum var. paludosa B.D.D., 1884
Bittium reticulatum var. bifasciata B.D.D., 1884
Bittium ragusianum Locard & Caziot, 1900 ; Locard & Caziot, 1900 ex Brusina
Bittium jadertinum antonium Nordsieck, 1976
Bittium atticum Nordsieck, 1977
Cerithiolum spina sensu Tiberi, 1869 non Partsch

Graham, Alastair F.R.S., 1988. Molluscs: Prosobranch and Pyramidellid Gastropods. Synopses of the British fauna (NS), 2: 1-662.

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.

Poppe, G.T. & Y. Goto, 1991. European Seashells. Vol. I. 352 pp. Wiesbaden/Verlag Christa Hemmen.

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

You can continue searching for Bittium reticulatum on one of these Web sites:

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

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