Calliostoma zizyphinum (Linnaeus, 1758) in Mediterranean

Lofoten archipelago, British Isles and North Sea to Canarias, Azores to Mediterranean. Low intertidal to deep circalittoral, on hard substrates. Micrograzer and predator on sessile preys. Original taxon: Trochus zizyphinus. Above, some examples in J. G. Hidalgo: Moluscos marinos de España, Portugal y las Baleares, Madrid 1870, plate 59.

Synonyms: conuloides, discrepans, flavus, laevigatus, lineolatus… 10m deep, on rocks, Málaga, Andalucia, S. Spain. 21mm.

Variants cingulata, dilatata, elata, elongata, granulifera… On rock in shallow water, Melilla, N. Morocco. 33mm.

Pale specimens with finer spiral cords than usual. 50m deep, off Málaga. 19-21mm.

Málaga. 36mm. Original pictures provided by D. Gubbioli (ES). – (CC BY-NC-SA) –

Found in deeper water, this one was fished in nets at 20-30m deep, in the bay of Alger, Algeria. 20,5mm. This is the variant “marmorata” Pallary.

80-120m deep, on detritic bottom with Corallium rubrum, in Gibraltar Strait, N. Morocco. 21mm.

Young specimens from 50m deep, Scilla, Reggio Calabria, SW Italy. 3,5mm.

90m deep, off the Secche della Meloria, Livorno, Toscana, W. Italy. 17mm. Original pictures provided by D. Gubbioli (ES). – (CC BY-NC-SA) –

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