Siphonodentalium colubridens
species of mollusc
Siphonodentalium colubridens is a tusk shell or scaphopod in the family Gadilidae of the order Dentaliida.
This species was described from only one specimen collected in 1874 by the H.M.S. Challenger expedition. The original description and a drawing was published in 1879 by Robert Boog Watson, a Scottish malacologist who reported on the Scaphopoda and Gastropoda of the Challenger expedition. The specimen was collected at a depth of about 1300 m in ocean waters east of North Island, New Zealand.
The species is described as having a smooth, white shell, with a swelling below the anterior aperture and a length of 15 mm.
References
Scarabino, V. (2008). New species and new records of scaphopods from New Caledonia. in: Héros, V. et al. (Ed.) Tropical Deep-Sea Benthos 25. Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (1993).
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Siphonodentalium colubridens” is species of mollusc. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Siphonodentalium, colubridens and species, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
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.
The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3801472. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1874, 1879, 1300 and 2008.
A general summary may omit uncertainty, sample limits or methodological disagreement that is explicit in the technical record. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.
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This entry incorporates text from “Siphonodentalium colubridens” 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.