Scotch bonnet (sea snail)

Scotch bonnet
Five views of a shell of Semicassis granulata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Littorinimorpha
Family: Cassidae
Genus: Semicassis
Species:
S. granulata
Binomial name
Semicassis granulata
(Born, 1778)[1]
Synonyms[12][13]
List of synonyms
  • Buccinum cicatricosum Gmelin, 1791
  • Buccinum gibbum (Gmelin, 1791)[2]
  • Buccinum globosum Gmelin, 1791
  • Buccinum granulatum Born, 1778 (original combination)
  • Buccinum inflatum (Shaw, 1811)
  • Buccinum recurvirostrum Gmelin, 1791
  • Buccinum undulatum Gmelin, 1791
  • Cassidea granulosa (Bruguière, 1792)[3]
  • Cassidea sulcosus Bruguière, 1792
  • Cassis abbreviata (Lamarck, 1822)[4]
  • Cassis calamistrata Locard, 1892
  • Cassis cepa (Röding, 1798)[5]
  • Cassis globulus (Röding, 1798)[5]
  • Cassis gmelini Locard, 1886
  • Cassis inflata (Shaw, 1811)
  • Cassis lacteus Kiener, 1835
  • Cassis laevigata (Menke, 1828)[6]
  • Cassis malum (Röding, 1798)[5]
  • Cassis minuta (Menke, 1829)[7]
  • Cassis monilifera (Guppy, 1866)[8]
  • Cassis plicata (Scopoli, 1786)[9]
  • Cassis reclusa (Guppy, 1873)
  • Cassis sulcosus var. elongata Weinkauff, 1868
  • Cassis sulcosus var. varicosa Weinkauff, 1868
  • Cassis tessellata (Pfeiffer, 1840)
  • Cassis undulatus (Gmelin, 1791)
  • Cassis undulatus var. ebla de Gregorio, 1886
  • Cassis undulatus var. minima Pallary, 1900
  • Cassis undulatus var. ghirma de Gregorio, 1886
  • Cassis undulatus var. syriaca Pallary, 1938
  • Phalium cicatricosum (Gmelin, 1791)
  • Phalium granulatum (Von Born, 1778)
  • Phalium granulatum granulatum (Von Born, 1778)
  • † Phalium granulatum loxahatcheense Petuch, 1994
  • Phalium inflata (Shaw, 1811)
  • † Phalium loxahatcheense (Petuch, 1994)[10]
  • Semicassis cicatricosa (Gmelin, 1791)
  • Semicassis cicatricosa peristephes Pilsbry & McGinty, 1939
  • Semicassis (Semicassis) granulata (Born, 1778)· accepted, alternate representation
  • Semicassis (Semicassis) granulata granulata (Born, 1778)· accepted, alternate representation
  • Semicassis granulata undulata (Gmelin, 1791)
  • Semicassis undulata var. levilabiata Paetel, 1888
  • Semicassis ventricosa (Mörch, 1852)[11]
  • Xenogalea lucrativa Iredale, 1927

The Scotch bonnet (Semicassis granulata) is a medium-sized to large species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the subfamily Cassinae, the helmet shells and bonnet shells. The common name "Scotch bonnet" alludes to the general outline and color pattern of the shell, which vaguely resemble a tam o' shanter, a traditional Scottish bonnet or cap. The shell is egg-shaped and fairly large, 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 cm) in maximum dimension, with a regular pattern of yellow, orange or brown squarish spots. The surface sculpture of the shell is highly variable: the surface can be smooth and polished, have grooves, be granulated, or even be nodulose on the shoulder of the whorls.

This species lives intertidally and subtidally on sandy substrates, and is found primarily in the tropical and subtropical Western Atlantic Ocean, from North Carolina to Uruguay. It is the most common species in this subfamily in North America. A similar-appearing sea snail in the Mediterranean Sea and Northern Atlantic Ocean, Semicassis undulata, is currently considered to be a separate species. The exact taxonomy of Semicassis granulata has been unclear in the past: as well as the current combination, 38 other combinations and synonyms exist.

In the spring, the adult females of this species lay eggs in tower-shaped structures. The eggs hatch as veliger larvae, which can float in the plankton for up to 14 weeks before settling onto the seabed as tiny snails. Crabs are a predator of this sea snail. After the death of the snails, if the shells are still intact they are often used by hermit crabs.

In 1965, in the US, the Scotch bonnet shell was named as a state symbol of North Carolina, the first designation of a US state shell.

  1. ^ (in Latin) Born, I. (1778). Index Rerum Naturalium Musei Caesarei Vindobonensis. Pars I. Testacea. [xlii] + 458 + [82] pp., 1 pl. Offficina Krausiana: Wien.
  2. ^ (in Latin) Gmelin, J.F. (1791). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae. Editio decima tertia. Systema Naturae, 13th ed., vol. 1(6): 3021-3910. Lipsiae.
  3. ^ (in French) Bruguière, J.G. (1792). Encyclopédie Méthodique. Histoire Naturelle des Vers. Encyclopédie Méthodique. Histoire Naturelle des Vers 1: 345-757. Panckoucke: Paris.
  4. ^ (in French) Lamarck, J.B. (August 1822). Histoire naturelle des animaux sans vertèbres. Histoire Naturelle des Animaux sans Vertèbres 7: [iii] + 711 pp. Author: Paris.
  5. ^ a b c (in Latin) Röding, P.F. (September 1798). Museum Boltenianum. viii + 199 pp. Hamburg.
  6. ^ (in Latin) Menke, K.T. (1828). Synopsis methodica Molluscorum. xii + 91 pp. Author: Pyrmont.
  7. ^ (in German) Menke, K.T. (1829). Berzeichniss der Anfehnlichen Conchylien-Sammlung des Freiherrn von der Malsburg. vi + 126 pp. Pyrmont.
  8. ^ Guppy, R.J.L. (1866). "On the Tertiary Mollusca of Jamaica". Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society. 22 (1–2): 281–295. doi:10.1144/GSL.JGS.1866.022.01-02.19. S2CID 130810484.
  9. ^ (in Latin) Scopoli, I. A. (1786). Deliciae florae et faunae Insubricae. Deliciae Florae et Faunae Insubricae 2: [iv] + 115 pp., frontispiece, 25 pls. Monasterii S. Salvatoris: Ticini.
  10. ^ Petuch, E.J. (1994). Atlas of Florida Fossil Shells. xii + 394 pp., 100 pls. Chicago Spectrum Press: Evanston, Illinois.
  11. ^ (in Latin) Mörch, O.A.L. (1852). Catalogus Conchyliorum quae Reliquit D. Alphonso d'Aguirra & Gadea Comes de Yoldi. Fasciculus Primus. [vi] + 170 pp. Hafniae.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference malacolog.org was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Rosenberg, G. (2015). Semicassis granulata. In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G.; Bank, R.A.; Bieler, R. (2015) MolluscaBase. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=419784 on 2015-05-13