Stomatia

Lore & Background

The shell of Stomatia is oblong or depressed orbicular, with a prominent but short spire and a surface that is tubercled or keeled. The whorls show a series of short folds below the suture. The aperture is either oblong or transversely oval, and longer than wide or the reverse. The interior of the shell is nacreous, and there is no operculum. Stomatia is closely allied to Stomatella, differing in the generally more elongated shell with a series of short folds or puckers below the sutures. Usually the body whorl has a tuberculous carina.

Reader's Guide

The genus Stomatia is notable for its distinctive shell morphology, including a nacreous interior and the absence of an operculum. Its close relationship to Stomatella is marked by differences in shell elongation and the presence of short folds below the sutures. The animal is too large to entirely enter the shell, and its foot is large, fleshy, tubercular, and greatly produced posteriorly. The epipodium is fringed, with a more prominent fimbriated lobe behind the left tentacle, and on the right there is a slightly projecting fold or gutter leading to the respiratory cavity. There are digitated intertentacular lobes. The genus occurs in tropical Indo-West Pacific, Oceania, Korea, and Australia. Several species are recognized, including Stomatia decussata, Stomatia phymotis, and Stomatia splendidula, while other names have been placed into synonymy, such as Stomatia angulata and Stomatia australis.

Did You Know?

• The interior of the Stomatia shell is nacreous.
• Stomatia has no operculum.