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) –
Comparisons between large adults of N. stercusmuscarum (40mm, S) and N. hebraeus (45mm, H) from Ayrolle lagoon. The outer marginal furrows of the operculum are more carved and more numerous in stercusmuscarum. The aperture is more regular, more half-moon shaped in hebraeus. The ratio h.apert / diam.shell is similar in both species, circa 0,66-0,67.

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