Thylacodes sipho

Thylacodes sipho, the common worm-shell, is a species of sea snail, a worm shell, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Vermetidae, the worm snails.

Common worm-shell
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Littorinimorpha
Family:	Vermetidae
Genus:	Thylacodes
Species:	T. sipho
Binomial name
Thylacodes sipho (Lamarck 1818)
Synonyms
Vermetus decussatus Gmelin, 1791 Serpula sipho Lamarck, 1818 Serpula sulcata Lamarck, 1818 Vermetus dentiferus Lamarck, 1818 Vermetus arenarius Quoy & Gaimard, 1834 Thylacodes dentiferus repens Mörch, 1862 Vermetus longifilis Mörch, 1862

Distribution

Endemic to Australia, found in all coastal states, more common in the south. The habitat is subtidal exposed reefs and rock platforms.

Description

Living in an irregularly coiled shell, up to 70 mm long, with a tube diameter of 4 to 10 mm. The early whorls of the shell are attached to a substrate such as rocks or shells, sometimes in aggregated groups. Feeding is on organic matter, trapped in strings of mucous, there is no operculum.^[1][2][3][4]