Southwest Florida Shells

by José H. Leal

Family Fustiariidae

Fustiaria liodon

(Pilsbry and Sharp, 1897)

Smooth Tusk Shell

Shell size to 36 mm; shell tubular, glossy, devoid of ribs or major sculptural features. Apex, often missing, smooth, with notch, with supplementary tube in well-preserved specimens. Curvature variable, but not extremely pronounced. Few specimens found on Sanibel. Color white, with apex sometimes salmon-colored. This species differs from the also locally found Graptacme eborea by consistent absence of longitudinal lines in the apical region of shell. (Entry prepared in cooperation with Rebecca Mensch.)