''Buccinum scalariforme'', common name the silky buccinum, is a species of

sea snail Sea snail is a common name for slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the ...

, a marine

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusk in the family Buccinidae, the true whelks.

Nomenclature

The name ''Buccinum scalariforme'' Møller, 1842, is a junior homonym of ''Buccinum scalariforme'' Kiener, 1834. However, the latter has not been used as the valid name of a valid species after 1899, whereas ''Buccinum scalariforme'' Møller, 1842, can be declared a nomen protectum under Art. 23.9 of the Code. WoRMS maintains this prevailing usage until such nomenclatural act is published.

Description

The ovate shell is elongated, slightly turreted and pointed at the summit. The spire is composed of seven very convex rounded

whorl A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). Whorls in nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral ...

s, united by a shallow suture. Upon the whorls are regularly disposed longitudinal ribs or folds, crossed by numerous, fine, approximate striae, which, by their mutual intersection, cover the surface of the shell. The white aperture is slightly rounded. The thin outer lip is striated internally. The columella is arcuated and is covered by the inner lip. The coloring is whitish, sometimes ornamented with transverse bands.Kiener (1840). General species and iconography of recent shells : comprising the Massena Museum, the collection of Lamarck, the collection of the Museum of Natural History, and the recent discoveries of travellers; Boston :W.D. Ticknor,1837
(described as ''Buccinum scalariforme'')

Distribution

This species occurs in the North Atlantic Ocean; off Canada; in circum-arctic waters.

References

Möller H.P.C. (1842). ''Index Molluscorum Groenlandiae''. Naturhistorisk Tidsskrift [Copenhagen] 4: 76–97

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q3172707 Buccinidae Gastropods described in 1842