Dischides politus (Wood, 1842)
Bay of Biscay to Canarias, to central Mediterranean and Aegean seas. On sediments, from sublittoral to bathyal depths. Original taxon: Ditrupa polita. Synonyms bifissum, laevigatum.
150m deep, off Estepona, Málaga, Andalucia, S. Spain. 5-6mm.
Sculpture of thin rings along the whole length.
41m deep, off Ravenna, NE. Italy. 10,5mm.
Ditrupa polita in S. V. Wood: “A catalog of shells from the Crag”, Annals and Magazine of Natural History, series I vol. IX number LX, London 1842, via BHL.
 
« Shell slightly arcuated, thin, smooth, subcylindrical ; anterior opening plain, posterior cleft, bilateral, with unequal terminations. The body of the crag shell is not inflated or enlarged like that of D. gadus, but has the posterior opening laterally cleft, somewhat resembling that of D. coarctata, Dentalium coarctatum Deshayes, ‘Monog. de Dent.’, pl. 4. f.18. (which is however distinct from gadus), but the dorsal part of the posterior end of this fossil is produced beyond the edge beneath and rounded, the ventral edge is shorter and truncated, an enamel-like polish covers the exterior, and was probably when inhabited subhyaline, but is now opake. »
Cadulus politus in Pilsbry & Sharp: Manual of conchology vol. XVII, Philadelphia 1807-1808.
 
« Shell small and slender, thin, arcuate, considerably tapering ; translucent bluish-white, with many unequal obliquely transverse lines and bands of opaque-white. Sculpture of fine, inconspicuous growth-striae, running obliquely around the tube. Near the aperture the tube contracts quite noticeably. Aperture oblique, round-oval, a trifle wider than long ; peristome thin and simple. Apex bilabiate, narrowly and deeply slit on each side, edges of the apical lobes bevelled. »
Beachstormed, La Franqui, Leucate, Occitania, S. France. 3,2-7mm. Original pictures provided by S. Clanzig (FR).
(CC BY-NC-SA)

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