Distribution. Beside the material examined, Oenopota ovalis has been mentioned from West of the British Isles by Sykes (1906: 177) and Massy (1930: 322) and from off Portugal (Sykes 1906). It would thus seem that the species is widespread in the whole northern N. Atlantic.
Remarks. This species is nearest to O. dictyophora but may be separated by its short siphonal canal, fainter sculpture and more regularly rounded aperture. The protoconch shows considerable variation in size: diameter 840—880 µm in the Norwegian sea and the deepest stations in the W. European basin, only 660 in a population from the upper bathyal of the Bay of Biscay; all intermediates, however, have been observed. The species has direct or lecithotrophic larval development.
Juveniles of Admete inflata Friele (Cancellariidae) are very similar but can be separated by their umbilical chink.