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.[1]

Scutus unguis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Vetigastropoda
Order: Lepetellida
Family: Fissurellidae
Subfamily: Emarginulinae
Genus: Scutus
Species:
S. unguis
Binomial name
Scutus unguis
Synonyms
  • Parmophorus corrugatus Reeve, 1842
  • Parmophorus elegans Gray, 1825 ·
  • Parmophorus imbricatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1834
  • Patella unguis Linnaeus, 1758 (original combination)
  • Scutus (Aviscutum) unguis (Linnaeus, 1758) · alternate representation
  • Scutus angustatus A. Adams, 1851
  • Scutus corrugatus (Reeve, 1842)
  • Scutus granulatus (Blainville, 1819)
  • Scutus parunguis Iredale, 1940 ·

Description

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The length of the shell attains 25.7 mm.

White shell, up to 6 cm long, distinctive by absence of slit or apical hole, though there is a small indent in the posterior margin. The mantle has purple brown markings on a cream background. Habitat: shallow-water rocks and coral. (Richmond, 1997)[1]

Distribution

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This marine species occurs in the Indo-west Pacific, from the Red Sea to the Solomon Islands; also off Papua New Guinea and Australia (Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia).

References

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  1. ^ a b Scutus unguis (Linnaeus, 1758). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 19 April 2010.
  • Blainville, M.H. de 1817. Sur la Patelle allongée de Chemnitz. Bulletin des Sciences, par la Société Philomathique de Paris 1817: 25–28
  • Allan, J.K. 1950. Australian shells: with related animals living in the sea, in freshwater and on the land. Melbourne : Georgian House xix, 470 pp., 45 pls, 112 text figs.
  • Knudsen J. (1992). Preliminary list of common marine prosobranch gastropods (Mollusca) from Hoi Ha Wan. In: Morton B, editor. Proceedings of the Fourth International Marine Biological Workshop: The Marine Flora and Fauna of Hong Kong and Southern China. The marine flora and fauna of Hong Kong and southern China III. Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong. 2: pp 919–921
  • Abbott, R. T. & Dance, S. P. (1986). Compendium of sea shells. American Malacologists, Inc: Melbourne, Florida
  • Jarrett, A.G. (2000) Marine Shells of the Seychelles. Carole Green Publishing, Cambridge, xiv + 149 pp. NIZT 682
  • Kilburn, R.N. & Rippey, E. (1982) Sea Shells of Southern Africa. Macmillan South Africa, Johannesburg, xi + 249 pp.
  • Kilburn, R. N. (1978). The Emarginulinae (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Fissurellidae) of southern Africa and Mozambique. Annals of the Natal Museum. 23(2): 431–454.
  • Herbert D.G. (1987) Taxonomic studies on the Emarginulinae (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Fissurellidae) of southern Africa and Mozambique. Hemitoma, Clypidina, Tugali, Scutus, Zeidora and two species of Emarginula. South African Journal of Zoology 22(1): 1–13.
  • Drivas, J. & Jay, M. (1987). Coquillages de La Réunion et de l'Île Maurice. Collection Les Beautés de la Nature. Delachaux et Niestlé: Neuchâtel. ISBN 2-603-00654-1. 159 pp.
  • Fowler, O. (2016). Seashells of the Kenya coast. ConchBooks: Harxheim. Pp. 1–170.
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