Shell of Smaragdinella calyculata

January 12, 2004
From: Bill Rudman


To accompany my posting of a Fact Sheet on Smaragdinella calyculata, here are some photos of the reduced shell of this species from the Australian Museum collections. As you will see the shell is very reduced consisting of little more than the flattened body whorl of the shell. The spoon-shaped projection on the inner lip is all the remains of the shell's inner whorls. Compare this with the shell of a related haminoeioid such as Haminoea zelandiae.

Upper Photo: Manana Islet, Oahu Is, Hawaii, 1924. AM C61285 [largest shell 12mm long]
Lower Photo: Honiara, Solomon Ids 1965. AM C159949 [shell 9mm long. see Rudman 1972]

As I discuss in the Fact Sheet the shell is quite variable in shape, as illustrated here [see Rudman, 1972].

• Rudman, W.B. (1972) The herbivorous opisthobranch genera Phanerophthalmus A. Adams and Smaragdinella A. Adams. Proceedings of the malacological Society of London, 40(3): 189-210, 11 figs.

Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2004 (Jan 12) Shell of Smaragdinella calyculata. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/11863

Factsheet

Smaragdinella calyculata

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