Scutus breviculus

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Scutus breviculus
Scutus breviculus (animal).JPG
View of the anterior end of a live animal of Scutus breviculus out of the water
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Vetigastropoda
Order: Lepetellida
Family: Fissurellidae
Genus: Scutus
Species:
S. breviculus
Binomial name
Scutus breviculus
Blainville, 1817
Synonyms
  • S. antipodes Montfort, 1810; Powell, 1979; Spencer & Willan, 1995
  • S. ambiguus Suter, 1913; Bucknill, 1924
Dorsal side of the shell, anterior end towards the right Scutus breviculus (top).JPG
Dorsal side of the shell, anterior end towards the right
Ventral side of the shell Scutus breviculus (base).JPG
Ventral side of the shell

Scutus breviculus is a common herbivorous species of large sea snail or limpet with the common name shield shell or less commonly duck's bill limpet. [1] It is a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Fissurellidae, the keyhole limpets and slit limpets.

Contents

Description

Like most in this genus the animal has a large muscular mantle, folds of which can completely cover the whitish shell, giving it a slug-like appearance. In S. breviculus the colour is a glossy dark almost jet black, as are the thick tentacles and snout. These inhabitants of the sub-littoral fringe shun light, clinging to the undersides of large rocks and boulders in a wide range of habitats, usually down to a depth of 20 metres. [2] At night they move around to feed, usually browsing on various alga such as Hormosira , or Ulva sp. in estuaries and harbours, often returning to the same bare scar in the rock in which they spent the previous day. This is sometimes referred to as 'homing behaviour'. An ancient food source for the Maori, who named it rori, a common name for a largish slug-like marine animal.

S. breviculus can grow up to 240mm in length and weigh over a kilogram.

Distribution

This species occurs in and around New Zealand, also across Southern Australia. It is notably absent from the Chatham Islands. [3]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sea snail</span> Common name for snails that normally live in saltwater

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<i>Scutus</i> Genus of gastropods

Scutus is a genus of large sea snails or limpets with the common name "shield shells". These are marine gastropod molluscs in the family Fissurellidae, the keyhole limpets and slit limpets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fissurellidae</span> Family of limpet-like sea snails

Fissurellidae, common name the keyhole limpets and slit limpets, is a taxonomic family of small to medium-sized limpet-like sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Vetigastropoda.

<i>Onchidella nigricans</i> Species of gastropod

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<i>Charonia tritonis</i> Species of gastropod

Charonia tritonis, common name the Triton's trumpet, the giant triton or is a species of very large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Charoniidae, the tritons. Reaching up to two feet in shell length this is one of the biggest mollusks in the coral reef.

<i>Alcithoe arabica</i> Species of gastropod

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Nacella macquariensis is a species of true limpet, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Nacellidae. It is found on the lower foreshore and in the shallow sub-littoral zone of certain islands in the southern Indian Ocean and Southern Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Notaspidea</span> Group of molluscs

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<i>Umbraculum umbraculum</i> Species of gastropod

Umbraculum umbraculum, common name the umbrella slug, is a species of large sea snail or limpet, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Umbraculidae. It is found in tropical to warm temperate parts of the Indo-Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, where it feeds on sponges.

<i>Dolabrifera dolabrifera</i> Species of gastropod

Dolabrifera dolabrifera is a species of sea hare, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Aplysiidae, the sea hares. Dolabrifera dolabrifera, otherwise known as a Warty Seacat. The animal goes by many names, including the common sea hare. The Hawaiian name for Dolabrifera dolabrifera, is Kualakai.

<i>Pupa affinis</i> Species of gastropod

Pupa affinis is a species of small sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Acteonidae. It is found in the waters around the North Island of New Zealand.

<i>Calliostoma tigris</i> Species of gastropod

Calliostoma tigris, common name the tiger maurea, is a large species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Calliostomatidae, the Calliostoma top snails.

<i>Cellana radians</i> Species of gastropod

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<i>Scutus unguis</i> Species of gastropod

Scutus unguis, common name the northern duck's bill, is a species of large sea snail or limpet, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Fissurellidae, the keyhole limpets and slit limpets.

<i>Lunella smaragda</i> Species of gastropod

Lunella smaragda, common name the cat's eye snail, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Turbinidae, the turban snails.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emarginulinae</span> Subfamily of limpet-like sea snails

The subfamily Emarginulinae, common name keyhole limpets and slit limpets, is a taxonomic subfamily of limpet-like sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Fissurellidae, the keyhole limpets and slit limpets.

References

  1. Morton, J. & Miller, M., “The New Zealand Sea Shore”, Collins, Auckland NZ 1968
  2. Cook, Steve De C., “New Zealand Coastal Marine Invertebrates Vol 1”, Canterbury University Press, NZ 2010, ISBN 978-1877257-60-5
  3. Powell A. W. B. (1979). New Zealand Mollusca. William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland 1979 ISBN   0-00-216906-1

Further reading