About Philine quadripartita Ascanius, 1772
Philine quadripartita is a species of marine gastropod mollusc, a type of sea slug or sea snail. In recent years, this species was misidentified as Philine aperta in the Northeast Atlantic. However, multiple recent studies that examined anatomical features including reproductive anatomy and DNA have confirmed that P. quadripartita and P. aperta are two separate species. P. quadripartita is found in the Northeast Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and was first described based on specimens from Arendal, Norway. By contrast, P. aperta is found only on the Indian Ocean coast of South Africa's Cape Peninsula. This snail has a thin, cone-shaped shell that is usually 5 to 7 millimetres (0.20 to 0.28 inches) long, with four distinct whorls. Its shell ranges in color from pale yellow to brown, and is covered in small, raised scales. Both the snail's head and foot are brown, and it has a small, fleshy mantle that covers its shell opening. Two other species that are very similar in appearance to P. quadripartita, Philine gueinensis and Philine schrammi, occur in the Southeast Atlantic.
