Nucella squamosa, common name the scaly dogwhelk, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.[1]

Nucella squamosa
Five views of a shell of Nucella squamosa (Lamarck, 1816)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Family: Muricidae
Genus: Nucella
Species:
N. squamosa
Binomial name
Nucella squamosa
(Lamarck, 1816)
Synonyms[1]

Purpura clathrata Blainville, 1832
Purpura clathrata Kuster, 1859
Purpura ovalis Blainville, 1832
Purpura squamosa Lamarck, 1816
Purpura squamulosa Gray, 1839
Thais sculpturata Turton, 1932
Thais subglobosa Turton, 1932

Description

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hydroid overgrowth on the shell

The scaly dogwhelk is a small brown whelk with many fine knobbly spiral ridges on its shell. It grows up to 5 cm in total length. The ridges of the snail's shell are not often visible because the whelk is usually overgrown by the high-spined commensal hydroid, Hydtractinia altispina, which looks prickly and is orange.[2]

Distribution

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This marine snail is found off the southern African coast from central Namibia to Port St Johns, subtidally to 50m under water.[2]

Ecology

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The eggs are laid in small groups of capsules which resemble stalked clubs. The commensal hydroid deters several of the snail's predators.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b Nucella squamosa (Lamarck, 1816). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 24 April 2010.
  2. ^ a b c Branch, G.M., Branch, M.L, Griffiths, C.L. and Beckley, L.E. 2010. Two Oceans: a guide to the marine life of southern Africa. ISBN 978-1-77007-772-0.