(Linné, 1758)

Description (shell):
Shell solid, glossy, opaque; sculpture of spiral lines, crossed by longitudinal lines, with pigment distributed along some of the lines (S. lignarius-drawing).

Size:
Up to 45 mm. Total length up to 60 mm.

Colour:
Green, yellow, or brown.

Animal:
Body white or orange. Head very short, squat, indented anteriorly; tentacular processes smooth, short, conical. Parapodial lobes extending from anterior end of head shield to about middle of shell; pallial lobe also visible. Burrower, preying on infaunal worms and lamellibranchs (S. lignarius-animal).

Habitat:
In muddy sand; sublittoral, to 700 m.

Distribution:
Common in the North Sea (Distr. S. lignarius).

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Mollusca
Class Gastropoda
Subclass Opisthobranchia
Order Cephalaspidea
Family Cylichnidae
Genus Scaphander
Species Scaphander lignarius

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Scaphander lignarius (Linnaeus, 1758)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Bulla lignaria Linné, 1758
Scaphander giganteus Risso, 1826
Scaphander targionius Risso, 1826
Scaphander lignarius var. britannica Monterosato, 1884
Scaphander lignarius var. minuscula Monterosato, 1884
Scaphander lignarius var. norvegica Monterosato, 1890

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.

Hoffmann, H., 1926. Opisthobranchia. In Grimpe, G. & Wagner, E.: Die Tierwelt der Nord- und Ostsee.

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.

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

You can continue searching for Scaphander lignarius on one of these Web sites:

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

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