Thylaeodus rugulosus (Monterosato, 1878)
Azores to tropical W. Africa, Mediterranean.
Suspension feeder in the mediolittoral down to the circalittoral.
Original taxon: Vermetus rugulosus.
 
« Minute, spiral species, with a regular roughness similar to that of the Caecum trachea. » – T. A. di Monterosato: “Enumerazione e sinonimia delle Conchiglie mediterranee”, Giornale di scienze naturali ed economiche di Palermo vol. XIII, palermo 1878, p.89. – Above and below: shell grit, zone of tides, Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq, N. Malta. 5mm.
A better description is given by Monterosato in 1892, in “Monografia dei vermeti del Mediterraneo”, Bullettino della Società malacologica italiana vol. XVII, Pisa 1892-1893, p.22:
 
« Shell small, rather solid, crystalline, affixed on its ventral side with the whorls twisted in various ways; anterior part tubular, elevated and erect, cylindrical and diaphanous. Sculpture composed of strong and regular roughness, devoid of spiral striae. Colour white or light amber. In the laminar area, affixed to other shells. »
Synonym Spiroglyphis haifensis Nordsieck, 1972.
8m deep, on Spondylus spinosus Schreibers. Iskenderun, SE. Turkey. Length of the erected part of the tube: 4,5mm.
6m deep, attached to dead shell, Kythnos island, Western Cyclades, southern Aegean. 7,25mm.
Zone of tides, Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq, northern coast of Malta. 6mm.

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