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Scaphella junonia, common names the junonia, or Juno's volute[1], 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 usually only washes up onto beaches after strong storms, or hurricanes.
The species is named after the ancient Roman goddess Juno.
Distribution
Scaphella junonia is found throughout Florida to Texas and the Gulf of Mexico.[2][3]
- A subspecies Scaphella junonia johnstoneae is found off of Alabama[3] and is the state shell of that state.
Shell description
The shell of Scaphella junonia is usually about 3 to 5 inches long. Maximum recorded shell size is 126 mm.[3] 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.
Human relevances
The shell was historically greatly prized for its beauty and apparent rarity. Because it is still very hard to find on beaches,if you find a junonia while shelling on Sanibel Island, Florida, you can get your picture in the local newspapers.
References
Further reading
- S. Peter Dance: Rare Shells. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles 1969.
- ↑ Helen S. O'Brien.: Shell Album. O'Brien Color Studio, Fort Myers, Florida 1953, S. 10 (archive.org).
- ↑ Vorlage:WRMS species
- ↑ a b c d Referenzfehler: Ungültiges
<ref>-Tag; kein Text angegeben für Einzelnachweis mit dem Namen Malacolog.