Simnia spelta (Linnaeus, 1758)
Angola to Cantabrian Sea, Canarias to Mediterranean.
 
Predator on Gorgonians in the infra and circalittoral: Eunicella cavolini (Koch, 1887), E. singularis (Esper, 1791), Leptogorgia ruberrima (Koch, 1886), L. sarmentosa (Esper, 1791) and L. viminalis (Pallas, 1766). Original taxon: Bulla spelta. Synonyms: acicularis, obsoleta, nicaeensis, secale…

25m deep, on Eunicella singularis (Esper, 1791), Brač island, Split-Dalmatia Comitat, S. Croatia. 20mm. Original pictures provided by A. Nappo (IT) – (CC BY-NC-SA).
25m deep, Adra, Almería, Andalucia, S. Spain. 11,5mm.
80-100m deep, or red coral bottom, Mljet island, Dubrovnik-Neretva Comitat, S. Croatia. 12,5-12,5mm.
Original pictures provided by N. Lete (HR).
– (CC BY-NC-SA) –
30m deep, Almería, Andalucia, S. Spain. 12-14mm.
The species by A. Vayssière in “Étude zoologique de l’Ovula (Neosimnia) spelta, L., et du Conus mediterraneus, Bruguière”, Journal de conchyliologie vol. XLIII, Paris 1895, plate I f.1-3.
 
« It was in August 1891 that I collected, in the middle of fishing residues, the two living individuals who served me to make these observations: they had been caught, off Carry-le-Rouet (near Marseille), on bottoms of Zostera and coralligen, at a depth of 25 to 30 meters. These individuals, put in fresh sea-water, were not slow to spread themselves and start up; they were very vigorous; so I could keep them alive for a week or so. […] The Neosimnia spelta in action, well spread, as I have shown from the front and in profile […] shows the lobes of its mantle thrown back on the sides of the shell; these lobes rise much less on each side than is observed in the Cypraea. These organs are smooth, slightly sinuous and, joining together in front and behind, they form, in these two points, on the side of the ventral surface, a kind of cavity. » – op. cit p.6.
Off Albufeira, Faro district, Algarve, S. Portugal.
Original picture provided by v_s_ for iNaturalist.
– (CC BY-NC) –
10m deep, in a cave under the Memorial for the repatriates of Algeria, Le Roucas Blanc, Marseille, Provence, S. France. 11mm. E. Vial legit (FR).
Simnia nicaeensis in A. Risso: Histoire naturelle des principales productions de l’Europe Méridionale… vol. IV, Paris 1826, plate X. This name was once attributed to some young to subadult specimens of Simnia spelta, as seems to have done Risso himself with this drawing.
Subadult from shell grit collected at 40-45m deep, Cannizzaro, Catania, E. Sicilia. 7,9mm. The terminals of “nicaeensis” are much more developed than in older specimens.
South of the harbour, isla de Tarifa, Strait of Gibraltar.
Original picture provided by whodden for iNaturalist.
– (CC BY-NC) –
Colour variation.
50-80m deep, off Poetto, Cagliari, S. Sardinia. 10,3-10,8mm. Original pictures provided by A. Nappo (IT).
– (CC BY-NC-SA) –

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