(King, 1846)
Description (shell):
Shell with moderately high spire with blunt tip. The shell has about eight whorls. They are swollen and rather angulated in profile, marked with spiral ridges and less obviously with growth lines. Of the spiral ridges about four, peripherally placed, are more marked than the others. Periostracum bears hairs along crests of ridges. Last whorl occupies about 70 % of shell height. The aperture is oval or pear-shaped, tapering below and with open siphonal canal bent to left. It occupies about half of shell height. The outer lip has a distinct anal sinus and becomes a little everted in older shells.
Size:
Up to 120 x 50 mm.
Colour:
Shell often with pink tinge. The periostracum is yellowish, but the pink colour often appears in the underlying shell, most evident in the throat.
Animal:
The tentacles arise close together from the transverse elevation which is the head. The mouth lies under the fold. The siphon extends clearly from the siphonal canal as the animal creeps. The foot is large, with a curved anterior edge and a rounded posterior end. The flesh is pinkish cream.
Habitat:
Living on soft bottoms between 140 and 2000 m deep.
Distribution:
Has a wide range throughout the north-eastern Atlantic, commoner in the northern parts, but always rather rare. It has been recorded from the northern half of the North Sea and from off the west coasts of Ireland and Scotland (Distr. T. berniciensis).