Scutellastra optima
Species of gastropod
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Scutellastra optima is a species of true limpet, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Patellidae.[1][3]
| Scutellastra optima | |
|---|---|
| |
| Shell of Scutellastra optima (specimen at Natural History Museum Rotterdam) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Patellogastropoda |
| Family: | Patellidae |
| Genus: | Scutellastra |
| Species: | S. optima |
| Binomial name | |
| Scutellastra optima (Pilsbry, 1927) | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
|
Patella stellaeformis optima Pilsbry, 1927[2] (basionym) | |
Description
The shell of the holotype measures 64 mm × 80 mm (2.5 in × 3.1 in).[2]
(Original description) The shell is large, solid, and ovate in shape, with a distinctly depressed profile. Its sculpture consists of numerous low radial riblets, which are approximately equal in width to the intervals between them. These riblets are layered over a coarser underlying structure of about a dozen low, broad radial elevations.
The color is striking: the depressed spaces between the primary elevations are a dull, deep maroon, while the smaller intervals between the riblets on the raised portions exhibit a diluted shade of the same hue. The interior is white, featuring a central field clouded with cinnamon tones. [2]
