Tegula pulligo

Tegula pulligo, common name the Dusky Tegula, is a species of medium-sized sea snail with gills and an operculum, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Tegulidae.[1]

Tegula pulligo
A live individual of Tegula pulligo in situ
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Vetigastropoda
Order: Trochida
Superfamily: Trochoidea
Family: Tegulidae
Genus: Tegula
Species:
T. pulligo
Binomial name
Tegula pulligo
(Gmelin, 1791)
Synonyms
  • Chlorostoma pulligo (Gmelin, 1791)
  • Trochus marcidus Gould, 1852
  • Trochus pulligo Gmelin, 1791 (original combination)

This is an Eastern Pacific Ocean species.

Tegula pulligo

Description

The size of the shell varies between 19 mm and 41 mm. The solid shell is deeply and widely umbilicate. It has a conical shape with an elevated spire. Its color is dull purplish or brown, when worn often orange, obliquely streaked with white or unicolored. The seven whorls are flattened, the upper ones finely spirally striate and sometimes very obsoletely plicate. The remainder is smooth, obliquely finely striate. The base of the shell is flattened, slightly convex, obliquely streaked, concave and white around the umbilicus. The body whorl is bluntly angled at the periphery. The aperture is very oblique, smaller than usual in this genus. The thin columella is obtusely dentate, ending above in a white callus which partly covers the umbilicus. There is no spiral ridge within the umbilicus.[2]

Distribution

This species occurs in the Pacific Ocean from Alaska to Baja California, Mexico.

It is usually found on kelp; once it falls to the bottom, it is easy prey for a number of predators, including sea stars, whelks, and octopus.

References
  1. Rosenberg, G. (2013). Tegula pulligo (Gmelin, 1791). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Tegula pulligo (Gmelin, 1791) on 2013-12-30
  2. Tryon (1889), Manual of Conchology XI, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia (described as Chlorostoma pulligo)
  • Turgeon, D.D., et al. 1998. Common and scientific names of aquatic invertebrates of the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 26 page(s): 61
  • "Tegula pulligo". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
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