Scaphella junonia

Systematik

Scaphella junonia, common name the "junonia", is a species of large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Volutidae, the volutes.

This species lives in deep water in the tropical Western Atlantic. Because of its deepwater habitat, the shell is usually only found washed up onto beaches after strong thunderstorms, or hurricanes.

The shell was historically greatly prized for its beauty and apparent rarity.

The species is named after the ancient Roman goddess Juno.

Distribution

Scaphella junonia is found throughout Florida to Texas. [1]

• A subspecies Scaphella junonia johnstoneae is found off of Alabama [2] and is the state shell of that state.

• Another subspecies Scaphella junonia butleri is found off of the Yucatan. [3]

Shell description

The shell of Scaphella junonia is usually about 3 to 5 inches long. Maximum recorded shell size is 126 mm. [4] The shell is cream in color with about 12 spiral rows of somewhat squarish brown dots. The large protoconch is tan. The aperture of the shell is almost 3/4 of the length of the shell.

References

• http://www.conchologistsofamerica.org/articles/y1997/9706_dance.asp

Books

RARE SHELLS, By S. Peter Dance, 1969, University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles