Scutellastra aphanes

Scutellastra aphanes is a species of sea snail, a true limpet, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Patellidae, one of the families of true limpets. It is endemic to South Africa.[1]

Scutellastra aphanes
Scutellastra aphanes
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Patellogastropoda
Superfamily:
Patelloidea
Family:
Patellidae
Genus:
Scutellastra
Species:
S. aphanes
Binomial name
Scutellastra aphanes
(Robson, 1986)
Synonyms
  • Patella (Scutellastra) aphanes Robson, 1986
  • Patella aphanes Robson, 1986

Taxonomy

Scutellastra aphanes was originally described by Gary Robson in 1986, as Patella aphanes. The specific name "aphanes" means "unseen" or "unnoticed" in Greek.[2] The species and other Southern African Patella were later moved to Scutellastra in 1998 based on morphological analysis.[3]

Description

Scutellastra aphanes consists of two distinct ecomorphs, one associated with beds of the mussel Perna perna and the other on nearby rocks. The most striking difference between the two is that the rock-dwelling form possesses more prominent shell ribs and the ventral margin is not concave in profile, unlike the mussel-dwelling form.[2]

Distribution
Scutellastra aphanes, ventral view

References
  1. Scutellastra aphanes (Robson, 1986). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 8 April 2010.
  2. Robson, Gary (1 June 1986). "A NEW SPECIES OF SOUTH AFRICAN LIMPET, PATELLA APHANES, (MOLLUSCA : GASTROPODA : PATELLIDAE), WITH A DISCUSSION OF P. OBTECTA KRAUSS, 1848". Durban Museum Novitates. 13: 305–320.
  3. Ridgway, S. A.; Reid, D. G.; Taylor, J. D.; Branch, G. M.; Hodgson, A. N. (1998). "A Cladistic Phylogeny of the Family Patellidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda)". Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences. 353 (1375): 1645–1671. ISSN 0962-8436.


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