''Cochlespira'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of
sea snail
Sea snail is a common name for slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the ...
s, marine
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 ...
mollusk
Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...
s in the
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 ...
Cochlespiridae
Cochlespiridae is a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic family (biology), family of predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea.
This family is not well differentiated morphologically, and there is poor congruence betwe ...
.
Description
The species in this genus are characterized by their elongated fusiform spire and a long siphonal canal. The whorls show on their edge spinose projections.
The shell is moderate in size, with a subacute, few whorled, glassy protoconch. It has an elongated slender, straight
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
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 are tabulated by a sharp recurved spinose or beaded keel, between which and the suture the surface is concave, nearly smooth. The
anal sulcus The anal sulcus, also called the anal sinus or anal canal, in Gastropods is a notch, a shelly tube at the top of the aperture
In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and fo ...
is deep, narrow, the fasciole separated from the suture by a beaded ridge, the outer margin of the fasciole not elevated. Type † ''Pleurotoma cristata''
Conrad, 1848.
Oligocene
The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...
fossil.
This group is extremely close to ''
Ancistrosyrinx''
Dall, 1881, the latter differing only by having the anal sulcus at the suture, with no intervening ridge, while the outer margin of the fasciole has an elevated lamella between which and the reflected keel at the shoulder there is an excavated channel. These differences hold good between the Oligocene and the recent forms, so far known, without exception. The recent forms have an operculum like that of ''
Leucosyrinx
''Leucosyrinx'' is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Pseudomelatomidae.WoRMS (2011). Leucosyrinx Dall, 1889. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails ...
''.
Distribution
Species from this genus occur in very deep water in the Indo-West Pacific and off Australia (Queensland).
Species
Species within the genus ''Cochlespira'' include:
* ''
Cochlespira beuteli''
Powell, 1969
* ''
Cochlespira bevdeynzerae''
Garcia, 2010
* ''
Cochlespira cavalier''
Garcia, 2010
* ''
Cochlespira cedonulli''
(Reeve, 1843)
* ''
Cochlespira crispulata''
(Martens, 1901)
* ''
Cochlespira elegans''
(Dall, 1881)
* ''
Cochlespira elongata''
Simone, 1999
* † ''
Cochlespira engonata''
Conrad, 1865 (extinct species from the Claibornean, Texas, USA)
* ''
Cochlespira kuroharai''
(Kuroda, 1959)
* ''
Cochlespira laurettamarrae''
Garcia, 2010
* ''
Cochlespira leeana''
Garcia, 2010
* † ''
Cochlespira maorum''
(P. Marshall & R. Murdoch, 1923)
* ''
Cochlespira pulchella''
(Schepman, 1913)
* ''
Cochlespira pulcherrissima''
(Kira, 1955)
* ''
Cochlespira radiata''
(Dall, 1889)
* ''
Cochlespira simillima''
Powell, 1969
* ''
Cochlespira travancorica''
(Smith E. A., 1896)
* ''
Cochlespira zanzibarica''
Sysoev, 1996
References
* Powell A.W.B. (1942). ''The New Zealand Recent and fossil Mollusca of the family Turridae with general notes on turrid nomenclature and systematics''. Bulletin of the Auckland Institute and Museum. 2: 1-188, 14 pls.
* Powell, A.W.B. 1966. ''The molluscan families Speightiidae and Turridae, an evaluation of the valid taxa, both Recent and fossil, with list of characteristic species.'' Bulletin of the Auckland Institute and Museum. Auckland, New Zealand 5: 1-184, pls 1-23
* Powell, A.W.B. 1969. ''The family Turridae in the Indo-Pacific. Part. 2. The subfamily Turriculinae.'' Indo-Pacific Mollusca 2(10): 207-415, pls 188-324
* Long, D.C. 1981. ''Late Eocene and early Oligocene Turridae (Gastropoda: Prosobranchiata) of the Brown's Creek and Glen Aire Clays, Victoria, Australia.'' Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria 42: 15-55
* Wilson, B. 1994. ''Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods''. Kallaroo, WA : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 2 370 pp.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3141318