Scutus is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of large sea snail

Snail

Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...

s or limpet

Limpet

Limpet is a common name for a number of different kinds of saltwater and freshwater snails ; it is applied to those snails that have a simple shell which is more or less conical in shape, and either is not spirally coiled, or appears not to be coiled in the adult snails.The name limpet is most...

s with the common name

Common name

A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...

 "shield shells". These are marine

Marine (ocean)

Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...

 gastropod molluscs in the family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Fissurellidae, the keyhole limpets and slit limpets.

Both the common name and the scientific name reflect the fact that the shells resemble a Roman shield

Scutum (shield)

Scutum is the Latin word for "shield", although it has in modern times come to be specifically associated with the rectangular, semi-cylindrical body shield carried by Roman legionaries.-History:...

.

The animal itself has a large black mantle that usually completely covers the shell, making the scutus appear slug-like.

Species

Species within the genus Scutus include:

• Scutus anatinus
  Scutus anatinus
  Scutus anatinus is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Fissurellidae, the keyhole limpets....
  
  
• Scutus antipodes
  Scutus antipodes
  Scutus antipodes is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Fissurellidae, the keyhole limpets.-Distribution:S. antipodes is endemic to the waters off eastern Australia and Tasmania....
  
  - http://australianmuseum.net.au/Elephant-Snail
• Scutus breviculus
  Scutus breviculus
  Scutus breviculus is a species of large sea snail or limpet with the common name "shield shell" . It is a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Fissurellidae, the keyhole limpets and slit limpets.- Further reading :...
  
  Blainville
  Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville
  Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville was a French zoologist and anatomist.Blainville was born at Arques, near Dieppe. In about 1796 he went to Paris to study painting, but he ultimately devoted himself to natural history, and attracted the attention of Georges Cuvier, for whom he occasionally...
  
  , 1817
• Scutus corrugatus
• Scutus elongatus
• Scutus granulatus
• Scutus howensis
• Scutus oblunguis
• Scutus parunguis
• Scutus rueppelli
• Scutus scapha
• Scutus sinensis
• Scutus unguis
  Scutus unguis
  Scutus unguis is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Fissurellidae, the keyhole limpets....
  
  
• Scutus virgo