Tenagodus obtusus (Schumacher, 1817)
Cabo Verde, W. Africa to Mediterranean & Algarve.
Circalittoral to continental margin.
Lives inside the body of demosponges.
Original taxon: Anguinaria obtusa.
50m deep, off Almería, Andalucia, S. Spain. 24mm.
Generic characters of Anguinaria: « The origin convoluted in a spire; the spire almost regular, but becoming cylindrical and twisted, divided laterally by a longitudinal slit; the slit serrated. Aperture orbicular, open. » (C. F. Schumacher: Essai d’un nouveau système des habitations des vers testacés, Copenhagen 1817, p.262. Specific characters: « The surface slightly streaked. »

Bacoli, Campania, Napoli, W. Italy. 24mm.
Comparison between Siliquaria obtusa (15-16) and Siliquaria anguina Linné (23-25) in G. W. Tryon: Manual of conchology, structural and systematic 1-VIII, Philadelphia 1886, pl. 57-58.
 
S. obtusa: « Shell elongated, whorls large, spirally rather finely lirated, smoother on the umbilical face, thickened on the outside and transversely fissured ; spiral slit simple, frequently closed towards the apex. Mediterranean Sea. It is S. anguina of Phil., Sowb., etc., but not of Linnaeus. There are Vars. rosea, Montr., and costae, Cantraine. »
85m deep, Iskenderun Körfezi, SE. Turkey. 15mm.
Same area, at 100m deep. 10,8mm.
The early whorls are almost smooth.
A large specimen fished off the Cap Ferrat, displayed at the Musée des coquilllages (Association SOS Grand Bleu), Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Alpes-Maritimes, SE. France.
Adult specimen from 400m deep, “Fondaletto” fishing area, Fossa del Pomo, mid Adriatic. 114,7mm.
Source: gruppomalacologicoscalaria.org.
Original pictures provided by A. Nappo (IT).
– (CC BY-NC-SA) –
The protoconch in a preserved specimen.
Original picture provided by B. Cunningham aparicio (ES).
– (CC BY-NC-SA) –

— back to Siliquariidae —