(Montagu, 1803)

Description (shell):
The shell is internal, covered over by the mantle, up to 5 mm in length, oval, frail, semi-transparent, glossy, whitish. The aperture is not quite as long as the spire. The sculpture consists of spiral rows of regular indentations, linked in chain-fashion, approximately 10 rows per mm (P. catena-drawing ).

Animal:
The body may reach 7 mm in overall length, cream or pale brown in colour, with tiny specks of dark brown, orange and white, the dark brown being present only on the dorsal surface. The overall shape is elongated and slender. Cephalic disc not indented anteriorly; mantle cavity not gaping posteriorly, extending only a short distance beyond the metapodium.

Habitat:
This uncommon species may occur under boulders on British shores, but is rather more prevalent offshore. The natural diet is not known, but this philinid is known to be itself eaten by flatfish.

Distribution:
It has been reported from Lofoten to the Mediterranean Sea and the Canary Islands, to 2000 m in depth (Distr. P. catena).

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

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Philine catena (Montagu, 1803)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Bulla catena Montagu, 1803
Bullaea catina Brown, 1827
Bullaea catenata Thorpe, 1844
Philine catena var. zona Jeffreys, 1867
Hermania catena; Winckworth, 1932

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.

Linden, J. van der, 1995. Philinidae dredged by the CANCAP expeditions (Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia). Basteria, 59(1-3): 65-83.

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 catena on one of these Web sites:

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

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