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.MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Dentalium Linnaeus, 1758. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=137886 on 2020-10-19
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.Hogan, 2008
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.Leach, B. F. (1977). Dentalium shell in New Zealand archaeological sites. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 7(4), 473-483.
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 (7.62 cm) 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 multicolored 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:Catalogue of lifeITISAnimal Diversity
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:Paleobiology Database
†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