Naked sand darter Naked sand darter The naked sand darter ("Ammocrypta beanii") is a freshwater fish of the family Percidae. It is found in the south-eastern United States. The naked sand darter is a small fish ranging in size from 40 to 50 mm long, the maximum being around 64 mm. Being a long thin darter, it is devoid of scales with the exception of a few rows above and below the lateral line and sometimes the caudal peduncle. Slightly transparent in life with a yellow color and iridescent operculum, the naked sand darter blends in with its habitat. It has darker bands
Operculum (gastropod) to push into the substrate in a leaping form of locomotion. Virtually all pulmonate snails are inoperculate, i.e. they do not have an operculum, with the exception of the Amphiboloidea. However, some terrestrial pulmonate species are capable of secreting an epiphragm, a temporary structure that can in some cases serve some of the same functions as an operculum. The epiphragm may be distinguished from the true operculum by its homogeneity and want of growth marks. In ammonites (extinct shelled cephalopods), a calcareous structure known as the aptychus (plural aptychi) existed. When these were first described they were thought to be