Gastropods · Marine Life · Whelks

Scaly dogwhelk (Nucella squamosa)

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Details of the operculum and the foot of the scaly dogwhelk. Unknown location, South Africa (2021).
Details of the operculum and the foot of the scaly dogwhelk. Unknown location, South Africa (2021).

About 15 spiral ridges overlies longitudinal ridges, giving the shell a scaly (squamous) appearance.
Operculum horny, brown-orange. Foot light orange, speckled white.

About 35 mm.

Occurs low on the shore or subtidally. Lays egg capsules resembling flat clubs. Shell usually coated by a commensal hydroid, Hydractinia altispina, making the shell prickly and orange. The hydroid’s stinging cells repel several species of predators.

Two Oceans: A Guide to the Marine Life of Southern Africa (2007)

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Scaly dogwhelk on a rock low on the shore. Mouille Point, Cape Town, Western Cape (2020).
Scaly dogwhelk on a rock low on the shore. Mouille Point, Cape Town, Western Cape (2020).
Eroded scaly dogwhelk with a little marine springtail walking on it. Doringbaai, Western Cape (2020).
Eroded scaly dogwhelk with a little marine springtail walking on it. Doringbaai, Western Cape (2020).
Front view of the ridged shell of Nucella squamosa. Unknown location on the coast of South Africa (2021).
Front view of the ridged shell of Nucella squamosa. Unknown location, South Africa (2021).
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