Stellaria testigera, the finger carrier shell, is a species of large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Xenophoridae, the carrier shells.
Subspecies Stellaria testigera profunda Ponder, 1983 Stellaria testigera digitata Martens, 1878
Distribution Stellaria testigera profunda is present in the Gulf of Aden and in North East Africa,S. t. profunda at Gastropods while Stellaria testigera digitata can be found in Senegal and Western Africa.S.t. digitata at Gastropods
Description Shells of Stellaria testigera profunda can reach a size of , while in Stellaria testigera digitata they can reach . These shells are characterized by the expanded peripherical flange, the presence of digitations and the smooth dorsal surface.Stromboidea
Fossil record Fossils of Stellaria testigera are found in marine strata from the Miocene to Pliocene (age range: from 20.43 to 3.6 million years ago.). Fossils are known from Italy, Denmark and Slovakia.Paleobiology Database These mollusks lived in the Mediterranean and spread to the Atlantic Africa and the Gulf of Aden.Sven N. Nielsen, T. J. DeVries Tertiary Xenophoridae (Gastropoda) of western South America The Nautilus. - Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum - American Malacologists, Inc. - Delaware Museum of Natural History. v.116:no.1-3 (2002) Page 75Storia della specie Stellaria testigera
References
Kreipl K. & Alf A. (1999). Recent Xenophoridae. Conchbooks, Hackenheim > Germany. 148pp.