Antalis vulgaris
species of mollusc
Antalis vulgaris, commonly known as the common tusk shell, is a species of scaphopods mainly encountered on sandy bottoms from 5 to 1000 meters depth.
Description
Antalis vulgaris is a small mollusc of 3 to 6 cm length with a characteristic elephant tusk shape. Its shell is opaque white and displays closely spaced longitudinal striations on the posterior portion. The anterior aperture (thinnest end) is circular and is occluded by a septum with a central pipe bearing a circular orifice.
Distribution
The common tusk shell is found from south-western United Kingdom to western Mediterranean.
Diet
The species stands vertically in soft grounds and search the sand with specific adhesive tentacles (captacula) for small benthic species such as foraminifera.
Reproduction
Separated sexes. The fecundation is external and gives rise to planktonic larvae called trochophore.
Similar species
Antalis entalis (Linnaeus, 1758) is smaller (4cm), has a pyriform-shaped anterior orifice and has no longitudinal striations.
Fustiaria rubescens (Deshayes, 1825) is smaller (3.5cm) and has a pink coloration.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Antalis vulgaris” is species of mollusc. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Antalis, vulgaris and species, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “species of mollusc” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 11, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q3800492. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1000, 1758 and 1825.
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This entry incorporates text from “Antalis vulgaris” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.