Cerithiidae,

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

the cerithiids or ceriths, is a large

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

of medium-sized

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

gastropod 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. T ...

s in the clade

Sorbeoconcha Sorbeoconcha is a taxonomic clade of snails, i.e. gastropods, mainly marine species with gills and opercula, within the clade Caenogastropoda. The taxon Sorbeoconcha was named by Winston Ponder and David R. Lindberg in 1997. Taxonomy 1 ...

Distribution

Ceriths are found worldwide on

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...

y bottoms,

reef flat A fringing reef is one of the three main types of coral reef. It is distinguished from the other main types, barrier reefs and atolls, in that it has either an entirely shallow backreef zone (lagoon) or none at all. If a fringing reef grows direc ...

s or coral reef rock covered with sand and

algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...

in the

sublittoral zone The neritic zone (or sublittoral zone) is the relatively shallow part of the ocean above the drop-off of the continental shelf, approximately in depth. From the point of view of marine biology it forms a relatively stable and well-illuminated ...

of warm or temperate waters. Most are found in tropical areas. A few occur along the

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an coastline and about 30 species in two genera are found along the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

coast. A few species occur in

estuarine An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

areas of

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...

forests close to the sea. Only a few species of the subfamily Bittiinae are found in deep water.

Diet

Ceriths are

herbivore A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpart ...

s and

detritivore Detritivores (also known as detrivores, detritophages, detritus feeders, or detritus eaters) are heterotrophs that obtain nutrients by consuming detritus (decomposing plant and animal parts as well as feces). There are many kinds of invertebrates, ...

s that graze the

sea bed The seabed (also known as the seafloor, sea floor, ocean floor, and ocean bottom) is the bottom of the ocean. All floors of the ocean are known as 'seabeds'. The structure of the seabed of the global ocean is governed by plate tectonics. Most of ...

Description

Their slender

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

is elongated with a pointed

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

. They vary in size from 3 mm ('' Bittium alternatum'') to 150 mm ('' Cerithium nodulosum''). The smallest shells are found in the subfamily Bittiinae. The many

whorl A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). Whorls in nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral ...

s have radial

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

with axial ridges and nodules. The

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 opt ...

shows at its base a vague curve or a distinct

siphonal canal The siphonal canal is an anatomical feature of the shells of certain groups of sea snails within the clade Neogastropoda. Some sea marine gastropods have a soft tubular anterior extension of the mantle called a siphon through which water is ...

. The aperture is closed off by a thin oval brown operculum that is

corneous Corneous is a biological and medical term meaning horny, in other words made out of a substance similar to that of horns and hooves in some mammals. The word is generally used to describe natural or pathological anatomical structures made out o ...

and paucispiral. The palatal wall of the

is somewhat enlarged and often shows a

varix A varix (pl. varices) is an abnormally dilated vessel with a tortuous course. Varices usually occur in the venous system, but may also occur in arterial or lymphatic vessels. Examples of varices include: * Varicose veins, large tortuous veins usua ...

. The taenioglossan

radula The radula (, ; plural radulae or radulas) is an anatomical structure used by molluscs for feeding, sometimes compared to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food ...

has seven teeth in each row. The single rachidian tooth is flanked on each side by one

rhomboid Traditionally, in two-dimensional geometry, a rhomboid is a parallelogram in which adjacent sides are of unequal lengths and angles are non-right angled. A parallelogram with sides of equal length (equilateral) is a rhombus but not a rhomboid. ...

al lateral tooth and two long, hook-like

marginal teeth Marginal may refer to: * ''Marginal'' (album), the third album of the Belgian rock band Dead Man Ray, released in 2001 * ''Marginal'' (manga) * '' El Marginal'', Argentine TV series * Marginal seat or marginal constituency or marginal, in polit ...

Subfamilies

The following three

subfamilies In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

have been recognized in the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005): * Alabininae Dall, 1927 * Bittiinae Cossmann, 1906 * Cerithiinae Fleming, 1822 - synonyms: Rhinoclavinae Gründel, 1982; Colininae Golikov & Starobogatov, 1987 Bandel (2006)Bandel K. (2006). "Families of the Cerithioidea and related superfamilies (Palaeo-Caenogastropoda; Mollusca) from the Triassic to the Recent characterized by protoconch morphology - including the description of new taxa". ''

Freiberger Forschungshefte The Freiberger, also known as Franches-Montagnes, is a horse breed from Switzerland, from the Jura region, described as either a "heavy warmblood" or a "light coldblood". It was widely used as draft and pack horse in the Swiss army. It ...

'' C 511: 59-138
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used different classification: Bittiinae on its own family level named Diastomatidae
overview of WoRMS
. Some authors classify Argyropezinae Bandel, 2006 as a synonym of Bittiinae.

Genera

Genera within the family ''Cerithiidae'' include: ;Alabininae Dall, 1927 * ''

Alabina Alabina is a French-based group that performs a mix of world music: Middle Eastern, Arabic, French, Hebrew, and Spanish Gypsy music. Alabina consists of lead singer Ishtar, who does the female vocals, and the band Los Niños de Sara, who provi ...

'' Dall, 1902 - type genus of the subfamily Alabininae, the type species of the genus ''Alabina'' is extinct ;Bittiinae Cossmann, 1906 Bandel (2006) recognized a family Bittiidae Cossmann, 1906 hich should then be named Diastomatidae Cossmann, 1894 on the grounds of prioritywith five subfamilies Bittiinae Cossmann, 1906 (usually placed in Cerithiidae following Houbrick, 1993), Finellinae Thiele, 1931, Alabininae Dall, 1927, Dialinae Kay, 1979 and Diastomatinae Cossmann, 1894. This contradicts Ponder (1994) who grouped ''Finella'' with ''Scaliola'' A. Adams, 1860 in a separate family Scaliolidae Jousseaume, 1912 caliolidae is nevertheless kept distinct by Bandel (2006: 76) on the basis of having a shell agglutinating sand-grains It also contradicts Houbrick (1993) who holds the Bittiinae as a subfamily of the Cerithiidae. It seems premature to reflect this scheme, which upsets current usage, in the

WoRMS Worms may refer to: *Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs Places *Worms, Germany, a city **Worms (electoral district) *Worms, Nebraska, U.S. *Worms im Veltlintal, the German name for Bormio, Italy Arts and entertainme ...

classification until shell characters are cross-checked with at least another independent (e.g. molecular) set of characters. * '' Argyropeza'' Melvill & Standen, 1901 * '' Bittiolum'' Cossmann, 1906 * ''

Bittium ''Bittium'' is a genus of very small sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Cerithiidae, the horn snails.Gofas, S. (2011). Bittium Leach in Gray, 1847. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespeci ...

'' Gray, 1847 - type genus of the subfamily Bittiinae, synonym: ''Dahlakia'' Biggs, 1971 * '' Cacozeliana'' Strand, 1928 * '' Cassiella'' Gofas, 1987 * '' Cerithidium'' Monterosato, 1884 * '' Ittibittium'' Houbrick, 1993 * '' Limatium'' Strong & Bouchet, 2018 * '' Lirobittium'' Bartsch, 1911 * '' Neostylidium'' Doweld, 2013 * '' Pictorium'' Strong & Bouchet, 2013 * '' Varicopeza'' Gründel, 1976 * '' Zebittium'' Finlay, 1926 ;Cerithiinae Fleming, 1822 (synonyms: Colininae Golikov & Starobogatov, 1987; Rhinoclavinae Gründel, 1982) * '' Cerithioclava'' Bruguière, 1789 * ''

Cerithium ''Cerithium'' is a genus of small to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Cerithiidae, the ceriths.Gofas, S. (2011). Cerithium Bruguière, 1789. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marines ...

'' Bruguière, 1789 - type genus of the subfamily Cerithiinae, synonyms: ''Bayericerithium'' Petuch, 2001; ''Contumax'' Hedley, 1899; ''Thericium'' Monterosato, 1890 * '' Clavocerithium'' Cossmann, 1920 * '' Clypeomorus'' Jousseaume, 1888 * '' Colina'' H. Adams & A. Adams, 1854 * '' Fastigiella'' Reeve 1848 * '' Gourmya'' Bayle, 1884 * '' Liocerithium'' Tryon, 1887 *'' Pseudovertagus'' Vignal, 1904 * '' Rhinoclavis'' Swainson, 1840 - synonyms: ''Clava'' Fabricius, 1823; ''Ochetoclava'' Woodring, 1928; ''Proclava'' Thiele, 1929; ''Vertagus'' Iredale, 1931 * '' Royella'' Iredale, 1912 subfamily ?GBIF
* † '' Bezanconia'' Bayle in Fischer, 1884 ;Genera brought into synonymy: * Subfamily Colininae Golikov & Starobogatov, 1987 : synonym of Cerithiinae Fleming, 1822 * Subfamily Rhinoclavinae ''Gründel, 1982'': synonym of Cerithiinae Fleming, 1822 * Subfamily † Tiaracerithiinae Bouniol, 1981: synonym of ''

Batillariidae Batillariidae, common name batillariids or mudcreepers, are a family of marine, cerithioidean gastropod molluscs in thesuperfamily Cerithioidea. They consist of 14 living species, classified in six to eight genera.Ozawa, T., Köhler, F., Reid, D ...

'' Thiele, 1929 * † ''Elassum'' Woodring, 1946: synonym of ''

'' Dall, 1902 * '' Stylidium'' Dall, 1907: synonym of '' Neostylidium'' Doweld, 2013 * ''Cacozelia'' Iredale, 1924: synonym of '' Cacozeliana'' Strand, 1928 * ''Cerithiolum'' Tiberi, 1869: synonym of ''

'' Gray, 1847 * ''Clathrofenella'' Kuroda & Habe, 1954: synonym of '' Cerithidium'' Monterosato, 1884 * ''Dahlakia'' Biggs, 1971: synonym of''

'' Gray, 1847 * ''Inobittium'' Monterosato, 1917: synonym of ''

'' Gray, 1847 * ''Manobittium'' Monterosato, 1917: synonym of ''

'' Gray, 1847 * ''Rasbittium'' Gründel, 1976: synonym of ''

'' Gray, 1847 * ''Stylidium'' Dall, 1907: synonym of '' Neostylidium'' Doweld, 2013 * ''Bayericerithium'' Petuch, 2001: synonym of ''

'' Bruguière, 1789 * ''Clava'' Fabricius, 1823: synonym of '' Rhinoclavis'' Swainson, 1840 * ''Contumax'' Hedley, 1899: synonym of ''

'' Bruguière, 1789 * ''Drillocerithium'' Monterosato, 1910: synonym of ''

'' Bruguière, 1789 * ''Gladiocerithium'' Monterosato, 1910: synonym of ''

'' Bruguière, 1789 * ''Gourmierium'' Jousseaume, 1894: synonym of ''

'' Bruguière, 1789 * ''Hirtocerithium'' Monterosato, 1910: synonym of ''

'' Bruguière, 1789 * ''Liocerithium'' Sacco, 1894: synonym of '' Liocerithium'' Tryon, 1887 * ''Lithocerithium'' Monterosato, 1910: synonym of ''

'' Bruguière, 1789 * ''Ochetoclava'' Woodring, 1928: synonym of '' Rhinoclavis'' Swainson, 1840 * ''Proclava'' Thiele, 1929: synonym of ''Rhinoclavis (Proclava)'' Thiele, 1929 represented as '' Rhinoclavis'' Swainson, 1840 * ''Vertagus'' Schumacher, 1817: synonym of '' Rhinoclavis'' Swainson, 1840

References

*Houbrick R. S. (1978). ''The family Cerithiidae in the Indo-Pacific. Part 1. The genera Rhinoclavis, Pseudovertagus and Clavocerithium.'' Monographs of Marine Mollusca 1: 1–130. * Houbrick R. S. (1992). ''Monograph of the genus Cerithium Bruguiere in the Indo-Pacific (Cerithiidae--Prosobranchia)''. 211 p.,

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)]
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* Elvira Wood (paleontologist), Wood, Elvira.br>''The Phylogeny of Certain Cerithidae''
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volume XXIV, New York, May 1910, pp. 1–92, Pl. I-IX.

External links

Miocene Gastropods and Biostratigraphy of the Kern River Area, California; United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 642

Houbrick, Richard S. "Phylogenetic relationships and generic review of the Bittiinae (Prosobranchia: Cerithioidea)." Malacologia (1993).
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