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  • José H. Leal

Shell of the Week: The White Verticordia

Spinosipella agnes is a small (reaching 23.2 mm or 0.9 inch) deep-water clam that was described in 2008 by Luiz Simone and Carlo Cunha in the National Shell Museum’s own journal The Nautilus. The characteristic shell sculpture includes sharp-ribs that swirl around the surface of the shell. For that and other reasons, the species was for many years confused with the Sharp-rib Verticordia, Spinosipella acuticostata, from the eastern Atlantic Ocean. The White Verticordia can be found in in deep water (270 to 830 m, or 890 to 2,700 ft), from off Florida, the Caribbean Sea, south to Brazil.


Spinosipella agnes, from off Egmont Key, Florida. Illustration by Patricia A. Starkey.
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