Dentalium (genus)

Dentalium (genus)
Dentalium is a large genus of tooth shells or tusk shells, marine scaphopod molluscs in the family Dentaliidae. The genus contains 50 described species and about 50 extinct species.
Etymology
The scientific name of this genus comes from the Latin word dentis, meaning tooth, based on the tooth or tusk-shaped form of these molluscs.
Description
The mantle of Dentalium species is entirely within the shell. The foot extends from the larger end of the shell, and is used to burrow through the substrate. They position their head down in the substrate, with the apical end of the shell (at the rear of the animal's body) projecting up into the water. These molluscs live on seafloor sediment, feeding on microscopic organisms, detritus and foraminiferans.
The shells are conical and curved in a planispiral way, and they are usually whitish in color. Because of these characteristics, the shell somewhat resembles a miniature elephant's tusk. They are hollow and open at both ends; the opening at the larger end is the main or anterior aperture of the shell. The smaller opening is known as the apical aperture.
Human use
South Asia
At Mehrgarh, a village located at the foot of the Bolan Pass in Balochistan in modern-day Pakistan, ornaments made of Dentalium shell have been found at burial sites dating back to 6000 BCE.
Excavations conducted by Jean-François Jarrige have described 'Exceptional grave deposits of Dentalium headbands found on the heads of several females...In Burial 274, the headband was made of woven rows of small dentalium and closed by two straps used as a clasp'.
Native Americans
The shells of Dentalium neohexagonum have been used by Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest and West Coast as a form of status and currency since time immemorial. The Chumash people have also been reported using dentalium as early as circa 1000 AD, in the Morro Bay area.
New Zealand
Māori traditionally used Dentalium shells for decorative purposes, such as rings and necklaces. Most artefacts have been found around the Coromandel Peninsula, and typically earlier artefacts during the Archaic Period (1300–1500) are Dentalium solidum, while later shells are Dentalium nanum.
18th-century European use
In pre-modern medicine, these shells were considered an excellent alkali, and apothecaries would pulverize them for use in several preparations. The shell used for this purpose was described by Joseph Pitton de Tournefort in London in the 18th century as being "of a tubular, or conical form, about 3 inches long; of a shining, greenish white; hollow; light, and divided lengthwise by parallel lines, running from top to bottom. It is about the thickness of a feather, and bears some resemblance to a canine tooth." However, it was considered at that time to be very rare, and in lieu of that, another shell was usually substituted. This was described as a multi-colored shell found in the sand where the tide had fallen; this shell was not channeled, or fluted. The large green shell to which the writer first refers must have been either Dentalium elephantinum or Dentalium aprinum, both of which are large and greenish, and live in the Indo-Pacific zone. The other shell was presumably another species, possibly Dentalium entale, which is native to Great Britain.
Species
Species within the genus Dentalium include:
Dentalium aciculum Gould, 1859
Dentalium adenense Ludbrook, 1954
Dentalium agassizi Pilsbry and Sharp, 1897 Stained tuskshell
Dentalium americanum Chenu, 1843 American tuskshell
Dentalium antillarum D'Orbigny, 1842
Dentalium aprinum Linnaeus, 1766
Dentalium bartletti Henderson, 1920
Dentalium calamus Dall, 1889
Dentalium callipeplum Dall, 1889
Dentalium callithrix Dall, 1889
Dentalium carduum Dall, 1889
Dentalium ceratum (Dall, 1881)
Dentalium circumcinctum Watson, 1879
Dentalium cheverti Sharp & Pilsbry, 1897
Dentalium clavus A. H. Cooke, 1885
Dentalium collinsae Lamprell & Healy, 1998
Dentalium congoense Plate, 1908
Dentalium cookei Sharp & Pilsbry, 1897
Dentalium crosnieri Scarabino, 1995
Dentalium curtum G. B. Sowerby II, 1860
Dentalium dalli Pilsbry and Sharp, 1897
Dentalium debitusae Scarabino, 2008
Dentalium dentale Linnaeus, 1766 European tusk
Dentalium didymum Watson, 1879
Dentalium eboreum Conrad, 1846 Ivory tusk
Dentalium ecostatum T W Kirk, 1880
Dentalium elephantinum Linnaeus, 1758 - Elephant tusk
Dentalium ensiculus Jeffereys, 1877
Dentalium entale entale (Linnaeus, 1758)
Dentalium entale stimpsoni (Henderson, 1920)
Dentalium entale Linnaeus, 1758
Dentalium floridense J. B. Henderson, 1920
Dentalium formosum Adams & Reeve, 1850 Formosan tusk
Dentalium glaucarena Dell, 1953
Dentalium gouldii Dall, 1889 Gould tuskshell
Dentalium grahami Lamprell & Healy, 1998
Dentalium healyi Steiner & Kabat, 2004
Dentalium hedleyi Lamprell & Healy, 1998
Dentalium hillae Lamprell & Healy, 1998
Dentalium humboldti Sahlmann & van der Beek, 2016
Dentalium inversum Deshayes, 1825
Dentalium laqueatum A. E. Verrill, 1885 Reticulate tuskshell
Dentalium liodon Pilsbry and Sharp, 1897
Dentalium longitrorsum Reeve, 1842 Elongate tusk
Dentalium magellanicum Pilsbry & Sharp, 1897
Dentalium majorinum Mabille & Rochebrune, 1889
Dentalium malekulaense Scarabino, 2008
Dentalium meridionale Pilsbry and Sharp, 1897
Dentalium nanum Hutton, 1873
Dentalium neohexagonum Sharp and Pilsbry, 1897 Hexagon tuskshell
Dentalium occidentale Stimpson, 1851
Dentalium octangulatum Donovan, 1804 Octagonal tusk
Dentalium oerstedii Mörch, 1861
Dentalium ophiodon Dall, 1881
Dentalium oryx Boissevain, 1906
Dentalium perlongum Dall, 1881
Dentalium peitaihoense S. G. King & Ping, 1935
Dentalium pilsbryi Rehder, 1942
Dentalium pluricostatum Boissevain, 1906
Dentalium poindimiense Scarabino, 2008
Dentalium potteri Lamprell & Healy, 1998
Dentalium pretiosum Sowerby, 1860 Indian-money tusk
Dentalium rebeccaense Henderson, 1920
Dentalium rectius Carpenter, 1864
Dentalium semistriolatum Guilding, 1834 Half-scratched tusk
Dentalium senegalense Dautzenberg, 1891 Senegal tusk
Dentalium sowerbyi Guilding, 1834
Dentalium stenochizum Pilsbry and Sharp, 1897
Dentalium strigatum Gould, 1859
Dentalium stumkatae Lamprell & Healy, 1998
Dentalium suteri Emerson, 1954
Dentalium taphrium Dall, 1889
Dentalium texasianum Philippi, 1848
Dentalium tiwhana Dell, 1953
Dentalium tubulatum Henderson, 1920
Dentalium vallicolens Raymond, 1904 Trench tuskshell
Dentalium vernedei Sowerby, 1860l Vernede's tusk
Dentalium vitreum Sars, 1851
Dentalium vulgare da Costa, 1778 Common tusk
Dentalium zelandicum Sowerby, 1860 New Zealand tusk
Species brought into synonymy
Dentalium diarrhox Watson, 1879: synonym of Antalis diarrhox (R. B. Watson, 1879)
Extinct species
Extinct species within the genus Dentalium include:
†Dentalium akasakensis Hayasaka 1925
†Dentalium alazanum Cooke 1928
†Dentalium angsananum Martin 1922
†Dentalium aratum Tate 1887
†Dentalium arcotinum Forbes 1846
†Dentalium atratum Tate 1887
†Dentalium attenuatum Say 1824
†Dentalium badense Partsch, 1856
†Dentalium bifrons Tate 1887
†Dentalium bocasense Olsson 1922
†Dentalium caduloide Dall 1892
†Dentalium cannaliculatum Klipstein 1843
†Dentalium cossmannianum Pilsbry and Sharp 1897
†Dentalium danai Meyer 1885
†Dentalium decoratum Münster 1841
†Dentalium denotatum Ludbrook 1956
†Dentalium giganteum Sowerby 1846
†Dentalium gonatodes Martin 1885
†Dentalium hamatum Forbes 1846
†Dentalium hanguense Cox 1930
†Dentalium hecetaensis Rohr et al. 2006
†Dentalium inaequale Bronn 1831
†Dentalium indianum Girty 1911
†Dentalium junghuhni Martin 1879
†Dentalium kansasense Gentile 1974
†Dentalium klipsteini Kittl 1891
†Dentalium latisulcatum Tate 1899
†Dentalium lombardicum Kittl 1899
†Dentalium mancorens Olsson 1930
†Dentalium microstria Heilprin 1880
†Dentalium montense Briart and Cornet 1889
†Dentalium moreanum d'Orbigny 1845
†Dentalium neohexagonum Sharp and Pilsbry 1897
†Dentalium neornatum Hayasaka 1925
†Dentalium ovale Cooke 1928
†Dentalium pseudonyma Pilsbry and Sharp 1898
†Dentalium rimosum Bose 1906
†Dentalium rugiferum von Koenen 1885
†Dentalium sandbergeri Cossmann and Lambert 1884
†Dentalium schencki Moore 1963
†Dentalium sexangulum (Gmelin, 1790)
†Dentalium simile Münster 1841
†Dentalium solidum Hutton 1873
†Dentalium sorbii King 1850
†Dentalium speyeri Geinitz 1852
†Dentalium sundkrogensis Schnetler 2001
†Dentalium tenuistriatum Martin 1879
†Dentalium tornatissimum Tate 1899
†Dentalium triquetrum Tate 1887
†Dentalium yasilum Olsson 1930
Fossils in the genus Dentalium are geographically widespread. This genus is very ancient, going back up to the Silurian period (age range: from 422.9 to 0.0 million years ago). It is especially represented in Cretaceous, Eocene and Miocene fossils.
Gallery
References
Habe, T. (1963). A classification of the scaphopod mollusks found in Japan and adjacent areas. Bulletin of the National Science Museum Tokyo. 6(3): 252–281, pls 37–38.
Scarabino V., (1995) Scaphopoda of the tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans, with description of 3 new genera and 42 new species P. Bouchet (ed) Résultats des Campagnes MUSORSTOM, Volume 14 Mémoires du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 167 189-379.
Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca. in: Costello, M.J. et al. (eds), European Register of Marine Species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Patrimoines Naturels. 50: 180-213
External links
Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata [10th revised edition], vol. 1: 824 pp. Laurentius Salvius: Holmiae
https://web.archive.org/web/20070811162831/http://www.mnhn.fr/publication/zoosyst/z01n3a4.pdf
Dentaliidae
Extant Silurian first appearances
Paleozoic life of Ontario