Scaled False Triton Shell, Phyllocoma scalariformis

Scaled False Triton Shell, Phyllocoma scalariformis. Shell courtesy of the commercial fishermen of the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, May 2008. Size: 3.0 cm (1.2 inches) x 2.0 cm (0.8 inches).

The Scaled False Triton, Phyllocoma scalariformis (Broderip, 1833), is a gastropod mollusk that is a member of the Muricidae Family of Rock, that is also known as the Staircase Phyllocoma. The shell is large with five or six whorls, a high spire, a siphonal canal that is straight and open and a moderately large aperture with flared lips.  The shell exterior is sculpted with spiral lines, following the whorls, and axial lines, running lengthwise and some individuals have pronounced, discontinuous, varices. The exterior of the shell is white in color; the interior is also white. The Scaled False Triton Shells reach a maximum of 3.8 cm (1.5 inches) in length and 2.5 cm (1.0 inch) in height.

The Scaled False Tritons are found on sand, often between rocks in the intertidal zone to depths up to 10 m (35 feet). They range from the coast of Western Mexico to Panama and have not been documented from the coastal Baja. The shell photographed below was collect in Todos Santos, Baja California Sur and thus extends this range to the southwest coast of Baja.

A synonym is Triton scalariformis.