Scaphander punctostriatus

The length of the shell varies between 30 mm and 40 mm.

The shell is elongate, thin, and somewhat bubble-like, with a fragile structure. There is no evident spire, as the body whorl expands rapidly, covering the earlier whorls. The surface appears smooth but, under a microscope, reveals fine spiral lines of tiny, elongated pits (punctations). The aperture is elongated and very broad at the base. The animal is large and cannot fully retract into the shell.{{cite book |last1=Herbert, D.G., Jones, G.J. & Atkinson, L.J. |title=Phylum Mollusca. In: Atkinson, L.J. and Sink, K.J. (eds) Field Guide to the Offshore Marine Invertebrates of South Africa |date=2018 |publisher=Malachite Marketing and Media |location=Pretoria |page=289 |doi=10.15493/SAEON.PUB.10000001 |url=https://doi.org/10.15493/SAEON.PUB.10000001 |isbn=978-1-86868-098-6|access-date=26 October 2024}}{{Creative Commons text attribution notice|cc=bysa4|from this source=yes}}

The shell is whitish, covered by a thin yellowish periostracum, and occasionally displays faint, darker spiral bands. The animal itself is yellowish-white.

This marine species occurs widely in the North Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Mediterranean. Off South Africa is it is found on the outer continental shelf and upper slope along the West Coast and Agulhas Bank, at depths of 170–2700 meters.

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite journal |last1=Lemche |first1=H. |title=Northern and arctic tectibranch Gastropods |journal=Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, Biologiske Skrifter |date=1948 |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=1–136}}

• {{cite journal |last1=Mighels, J. W.; Adams, C. B. |title=Descriptions of twenty-four new species of New England shells |journal=Boston Journal of Natural History |date=1842 |volume=4 |pages=43–44 |url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/5362938}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Jeffreys |first1=J.G. |title=On the Mollusca procured during the cruise of H. M. S. Triton, between the Hebrides and Faeroes in 1882. |journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London |date=1883 |volume=1883 |pages=398–399 |url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30828055}}
• {{cite book |last1=Lovén |first1=S.L. |title=Index Molluscorum litora Scandinaviae occidentalia habitantium. Öfversigt af Kongliga Vetenskaps Akademiens Förhandlingar. |date=1846 |page=10 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/39077288}}
• {{cite book |last1=Locard |first1=A. |title=Expéditions scientifiques du Travailleur et du Talisman pendant les années 1880, 1881, 1882 et 1883. Mollusques testacés |date=1897–1898 |publisher=Masson |location=Paris |pages=54–55 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/10994100}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Eilertsen M.H. & Malaquias M.A. |title=Systematic revision of the genus Scaphander (Gastropoda, Cephalaspidea) in the Atlantic Ocean, with a molecular phylogenetic hypothesis |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |date=2013 |volume=167 |pages=389–429 |url=https://doi.org/10.1111/zoj.12013}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Barnard |first1=K.H. |title=Contributions to the knowledge of South African marine Mollusca. Part IV. Gastropoda: Prosobranchiata: Rhipidoglossa, Docoglossa. Tectibranchiata. Polyplacophora. Solenogastres. Scaphopoda. |journal=Annals of the South African Museum |date=1963 |volume=47 |issue=2 |page=322 |url=http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40854592}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. |title=Mollusca. in: Costello, M.J. et al. (eds), European Register of Marine Species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. |journal=Patrimoines Naturels |date=2001 |volume=50 |pages=180–213 |url=http://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/ocrd/254404.pdf}}

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Category:Scaphandridae

Category:Gastropods described in 1842

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