Naticarius stercusmuscarum (Gmelin, 1791)
Mediterranean.
Predator in infralittoral soft bottoms.
Crawls on the sand or just below its surface.
Original taxon: Nerita stercusmuscarum.
Alternative epithet: punctatus (Chemnitz in Karsten, 1789).
In sand, Grau de la Vieille Nouvelle, entrance of Ayrolle lagoon, Gruissan, Occitania, S. France. 44mm.
Other synonym: millepunctata Lamarck.
Left: the species in Martin Lister: Historia sive synopsis methodica conchyliorum, third edition, Oxford 1823, L. W. Dillwyn manager. Right: the umbilical pillar of the genus Naticarius is better shown in this drawing by J. de Favanne in Dézallier d’Argenville: La conchyliologie vol. III, paris 1780.
Shallow water, Lesvos island (Mytilini), NE. Ægean. 28-30mm.
At night in shallow water, SE. end of the Grau de Pisse Saumes, Marseillan-Plage, Agde, Hérault, S. France. Original picture provided by J. Renoult for iNaturalist – (CC BY-NC).
Left: a specimen with its operculum, in H. M. D. de Blainville: Malacozoaires, ou Animaux mollusques, Paris 1828-1830, plate XIV. Right: the species in L. A. Reeve: Conchologia iconica vol. IX, London 1856, plate VII. « Distinguished by its characteristic painting of red dots, which in N. maculata, of the same typical form, from the same locality, are represented by confused blotches » – one points out that maculata von Salis is a synonym of hebraeus Martyn.
Young specimen. Saint-Pierre-la-Mer, Aude, Occitania. Original picture provided by X. Rufray for iNaturalist – (CC BY-NC).
Adult. L’Espiguette, by night, Le Grau-du-Roi, Gard, Occitania. Original picture provided by S. Lebris for iNaturalist.
– (CC BY-NC) –

— back to Naticidae —