Antalis pretiosa

Antalis pretiosa (formerly Dentalium pretiosum), commonly known as the Wampum tuskshell or the Indian money tusk is a species of tusk shell in the family Dentaliidae. It was first described by George Brettingham Sowerby II, and named by Thomas Nuttall in 1860.

Antalis pretiosa is the primary species of shell known by the colloquial term dentalium, a blanket term describing tusk shells utilized extensively for over 2500 years by Indigenous peoples for both regalia and currency. The shells were referred to as Hy'kwa (also haiqua) in the Chinook Jargon trade language. Trade networks carried A. pretiosa shells far beyond the Vancouver Island sites where the shells were harvested, into the Great Lakes region and as far south as Baja California.