''Amoria'' is a taxonomic genus of medium-sized predatory marine gastropod in the family

Volutidae ''Volutidae'', common name volutes, are a taxonomic family of predatory sea snails that range in size from 9 mm to over 500 mm. They are marine gastropod mollusks. Most of the species have no operculum. Distribution This family of sea snails ...

.Bouchet, P.; Bail, P. (2012). Amoria Gray, 1855. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=382343 on 2012-06-11

Distribution

''Amoria'' are found in onshore and offshore waters around the entire coast of Australia. Several species extend into offshore waters of southern

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. The highest areas of diversity are in the intertidal and shallow subtidal waters of northern

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

followed by the subtidal waters around the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

Shell description

''Amoria'' have a small, smooth, more or less pointed conical protoconch, a solid very glossy, fusiform shell and an elongate

aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An ...

with 4 distinct, more or less developed

columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (; Arabic: , 4 – ) was a prominent writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His ' in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture, together with the wo ...

r plicae. The sutures are slightly callous. The colour pattern of the genus ''Amoria'' is variable, the base colour is white, yellow or pink with varying degrees or brown axial lines forming a pattern over the base colour. Axial lines may be free or may reticulate to form a tented pattern. The largest species ''Amoria hunteri'' reaches over 200 mm in length. The smallest species is probably ''Amoria dampieria'' frequently around 20 mm.

Biology

''Amoria'' are nocturnal and prey on other

gastropods The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. The ...

and on bivalves. They generally inhabit areas with well sorted coarse sand. Some ''Amoria'' species have been noted to bite people when they are handled. The bite is followed by a mild sting, but no long-term effects have been noted.

Fossil history

The first ''Amoria'' appear in the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...

and Late

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

from

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. Judging from anatomical features, ''Amoria'' are close to the genus '' Cymbiola'' from which they descended in the

Tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

. '' Cymbiola'' are related to Tethyan species of the Late Miocene of

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

Taxonomy

''Amoria'' includes 20-30 species. The following species have been recognized: * '' Amoria benthalis'' McMichael, 1964 - Queensland, New South Wales * '' Amoria canaliculata'' McCoy, 1869 - Queensland * '' Amoria chaneyi'' Morrison, 2012 * '' Amoria damonii'' Gray, 1864 - Western and Northern Australia * '' Amoria dampieria'' Weaver, 1960 - Dampier Archipelago * '' Amoria diamantina'' Wilson, 1972 - Western Australia * '' Amoria ellioti'' (Sowerby II, 1864) - Western Australia * '' Amoria exoptanda'' (Reeve, 1849) - Southern Australia * '' Amoria grayi'' Ludbrook, 1953 - Western Australia * '' Amoria guttata'' McMichael, 1964 - Queensland * '' Amoria hansenae'' Morrison, 2012 * '' Amoria hunteri'' (Iredale, 1931) - Eastern Australia * '' Amoria jamrachii'' Gray, 1864 - Western Australia * '' Amoria jansae'' van Pel & Moolenbeek, 2010 * '' Amoria lineola'' Bail & Limpus, 2009 * '' Amoria macandrewi'' (Sowerby III, 1887) - Western Australia * '' Amoria maculata'' (Swainson, 1822) - Eastern Australia * '' Amoria mihali'' H. Morrison, 2018 * '' Amoria molleri'' (Iredale, 1836) - Queensland * '' Amoria necopinata'' Darragh, 1983 - Queensland * '' Amoria peterstimpsoni'' Cossignani & Allary, 2019 * '' Amoria praetexta'' (Reeve, 1849) - Western Australia * '' Amoria rinkensi'' Poppe, 1986 - Northwestern Australia * '' Amoria ryosukei'' Habe, 1975 - Arafura, Timor Sea * '' Amoria simoneae'' Bail & Limpus, 2003 * '' Amoria spenceriana'' (Gatliff, 1908) - Ashmore Reef * '' Amoria stricklandi'' Bail & Limpus, 2016 * '' Amoria subfossilis'' Bail & Limpus, 2011 * '' Amoria turneri'' (Griffith & Pidgeon, 1834) - Western and Northern Australia * '' Amoria undulata'' (Lamarck, 1804) - Western, Southern and Eastern Australia * '' Amoria volva'' * '' Amoria weldensis'' Bail & Limpus, 2001 - Western Australia * '' Amoria zebra'' (Leach, 1814) - Eastern Australia ;Species brought into synonymy: * ''Amoria kawamurai'' Habe, 1975 - Arafura, Timor Sea: synonym of the subspecies ''Amoria grayi kawamurai'' Habe, 19 * ''Amoria kingi'' Cox, 1871: synonym of ''Amoria undulata'' (Lamarck, 1804) * ''Amoria newmanae'' Cotton, 1949: synonym of ''Amoria turneri'' (Gray in Griffith & Pidgeon, 1834) Many subspecific names have been created in the genus ''Amoria'' to distinguish colour variations in the shells of the species.

References

* N.H. Ludbrook (1953), Systematic Revision of the Volutidid Genus ''Amoria'', J. Mollus. Stud. 30 (4-5): 131-153. * Bail, P., Limpus, A. & Poppe, G. T. (2001): ''The Genus'' Amoria. In: Poppe, G. T. & Groh, K.: ''A Conchological Iconography''. 50 pp., 93 plts. ConchBooks, Hackenheim, . * Wilson, B. (1994): ''Australian marine shells 2''. Odyssey Publishing, Kallaroo, Western Australia, .

External links

Biodiversity library: journals describing or mentioning ''Amoria''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4747668 Volutidae Gastropod genera Taxa named by John Edward Gray