Thylacodes sipho, the common worm-shell, is a species of sea snail, a worm shell, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Vermetidae, the worm snails.

Common worm-shell
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Littorinimorpha
Family: Vermetidae
Genus: Thylacodes
Species:
T. sipho
Binomial name
Thylacodes sipho
(Lamarck 1818)
Synonyms
  • Vermetus decussatus Gmelin, 1791
  • Serpula sipho Lamarck, 1818
  • Serpula sulcata Lamarck, 1818
  • Vermetus dentiferus Lamarck, 1818
  • Vermetus arenarius Quoy & Gaimard, 1834
  • Thylacodes dentiferus repens Mörch, 1862
  • Vermetus longifilis Mörch, 1862

Distribution

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Endemic to Australia, found in all coastal states, more common in the south. The habitat is subtidal exposed reefs and rock platforms.

Description

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Living in an irregularly coiled shell, up to 70 mm long, with a tube diameter of 4 to 10 mm. The early whorls of the shell are attached to a substrate such as rocks or shells, sometimes in aggregated groups. Feeding is on organic matter, trapped in strings of mucous, there is no operculum.[1][2][3][4]

References

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  1. ^ "Thylacodes sipho". The Atlas of Living Australia. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  2. ^ "Thylacodes sipho". Molluscs of Tasmania. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  3. ^ "Thylacodes sipho". Solitary Islands Underwater Research Group, Inc. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  4. ^ "Thylacodes sipho". Sea Shells of New South Wales. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  • Gmelin J.F. 1791. Caroli a Linné. Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Lipsiae : Georg. Emanuel. Beer Vermes. Vol. 1(Part 6) pp. 3021–3910.
  • Quoy, J.R. & Gaimard, J.P. 1834. Voyage de Découvertes de l'Astrolabe exécuté par Ordre du Roi, Pendant les Années 1826–1829. Paris : J. Tastu Zoologie Vol. 3 366 pp.
  • Mörch, O.A.L. 1862. Review of the Vermetidae [Part 1]. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1862: 54-83
  • Tate, R. & May, W.L. 1901. A revised census of the marine Mollusca of Tasmania. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 26(3): 344-471
  • Cotton, B.C. 1959. South Australian Mollusca. Archaeogastropoda. Handbook of the Flora and Fauna of South Australia. Adelaide : South Australian Government Printer 449 pp.
  • Hedley, C. 1916. A preliminary index of the Mollusca of Western Australia. Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Western Australia 1: 152-226
  • Iredale, T. & McMichael, D.F. 1962. A reference list of the marine Mollusca of New South Wales. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 11: 1–109
  • Wilson, B. 1993. Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods. Kallaroo, Western Australia : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 1 408 pp.
  • Bieler, R. & Petit, R.E. 2011. Catalogue of Recent and fossil “worm-snail” taxa of the families Vermetidae, Siliquariidae, and Turritellidae (Mollusca: Caenogastropoda). Zootaxa 2948: 1-103
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