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Tusk Shell

Mollusks

Tusk shells, class Scaphopoda, are marine mollusks with a distinctive tapering, tube-like shell open at both ends, resembling a miniature elephant tusk, that they use to burrow tail-first into soft sea-floor sediment while leaving the narrow end projecting upward. They lack eyes and gills entirely, breathing through their mantle, and feed using thread-like tentacles called captacula that extend from the head to capture tiny food particles such as foraminifera from the surrounding sediment.

Facts
Classification
System (Realm)
Marine 2
Living or Extinct
Yes 3
Identification
Distinguishing Appearance
Shells range in length from 0.5 to 18 cm, tapering from anterior to posterior 1
Scientific Name
Scaphopoda 1
Connections

Child Taxon Of

Mollusca, Taxa
Source Wikidata: Scaphopoda

In Biome

Marine, Biomes
Source Tusk shell (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Tusk shell (Wikipedia)
  • Introduction
    Scaphopoda
  • Introduction, shell size clause
    Shells of species within this class range in length 0.5
View the Source
2. GBIF Species API
GBIF Species APIView the Source
3. Wikidata (taxon extant/extinct status)
Wikimedia Foundation / Wikidata contributorsQ238314, descriptionView the Source
Wikidata: Scaphopoda
  • Wikidata Q238314, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
  • Child Taxon Of: Mollusca, Wikidata P171 (parent taxon) claim, rank=normal, target=Q25326 (Mollusca)
View the Source
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