Cypraeoidea, the cowries and cowry allies, is a

superfamily SUPERFAMILY is a database and search platform of structural and functional annotation for all proteins and genomes. It classifies amino acid sequences into known structural domains, especially into SCOP superfamilies. Domains are functional, str ...

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 ...

s included in the

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

Littorinimorpha Littorinimorpha is a large order of snails, gastropods, consisting primarily of sea snails ( marine species), but also including some freshwater snails ( aquatic species) and land snails (terrestrial species).Bouchet P. & Rocroi J.-P. (Ed.); Fr� ...

. This superfamily had been called Cypraeacea and was named by Rafinesque in 1815.MolluscaBase (2018). Cypraeoidea Rafinesque, 1815. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=14774 on 2018-07-18

Shell description

This superfamily of sea snails have adult shells which do not look like typical

gastropod shell The gastropod shell is part of the body of a Gastropoda, gastropod or snail, a kind of mollusc. The shell is an exoskeleton, which protects from predators, mechanical damage, and dehydration, but also serves for muscle attachment and calcium s ...

s because the

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 ...

of the shell is not visible in adults, instead the shells are: often quite rounded in shape, varying from globular to elongate, and with a long, very narrow,

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 ...

which is sometimes toothed. The snails in these families have no operculum. The shells of almost every species in this superfamily are very smooth and shiny, and this is because in the living animal, the shell is nearly always fully covered with the mantle. The largest known fossil cowry was ''Gisortia gigantiea'' Munster, 1828 which reached a length of 350mm. The largest modern cowry is the Atlantic Deer Cowry ('' Macrocypraea cervus'') at up to 190mm. The largest known cowry from any extant subfamily or genus was the Australian cowry ''Zoila (Gigantocypraea) gigas'' (McCoy, 1867) at about 247mm.

Nomenclature

This superfamily used to be known as Cypraeacea. Prior to the recent ruling by the

ICZN The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its publisher, the I ...

, many invertebrate superfamily names ended in the suffix -acea, or -aceae, not -oidea as now required according to ICZN article 29.2. The suffix -oidea used to be used for some subclasses and superorders, where it is still found. In much of the older literature including Keen 1958, gastropod superfamilies are written with the suffix -acea.

Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology The ''Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology'' (or ''TIP'') published by the Geological Society of America and the University of Kansas Press, is a definitive multi-authored work of some 50 volumes, written by more than 300 paleontologists, and co ...

; part K (Nautiloidea) 1964 and part L (Ammonoidea) 1962; Geological Society of America and Univ. of Kansas Press.

Taxonomy

2005 taxonomy

The following two

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 ...

were recognized in the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005): *

Cypraeidae Cypraeidae, commonly named the cowries ( cowry), is a taxonomic family of small to large sea snails. These are marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Cypraeoidea, the cowries and cowry allies. Shell description Cypraeidae have adult s ...

Ovulidae Ovulidae, common names the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries, is a family of small to large predatory or parasitic sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Cypraeoidea, the cowries and the cowry allies. MolluscaBase eds. ...

2007 taxonomy

Fehse (2007)Fehse D. (2007). "Contributions to the knowledge of the Ovulidae. XVI. The higher systematics". '' Spixiana'' 30(1): 121-125
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. elevated the subfamily Pediculariinae to the family Pediculariidae, and the tribe Eocypraeini to the family Eocypraeidae. Both of these groups were removed from the Ovulidae and raised to family level, based on research on their morphological and molecular phylogenic qualities. Families within Cypraeoidea are as follows: *

* Eratoidae Gill, 1871 *

Triviidae Triviidae is a taxonomic family of small sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Cypraeoidea of the order Littorinimorpha. MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Triviidae Troschel, 1863. Accessed through: World Register of ...

Troschel, 1863 *

Velutinidae Velutinidae is a family of small sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Littorinimorpha.Gofas, S. (2014). Velutinidae Gray, 1840. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxd ...

Gray, 1840 ;Synonyms: * Amphiperatidae Gray, 1853: synonym of

J. Fleming, 1822 *

Eocypraeidae Eocypraeidae is a small family of large sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Cypraeoidea, the cowries and cowry allies. MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Eocypraeidae F. A. Schilder, 1924. Accessed through: World Reg ...

: synonym of Eocypraeinae Schilder, 1924 * Lamellariidae d'Orbigny, 1841: synonym of

Lamellariinae Lamellariinae is a subfamily of small slug-like sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs belonging to the family Velutinidae, in the order Littorinimorpha.MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Lamellariinae d'Orbigny, 1841. Accessed through: ...

d'Orbigny, 1841 * Pediculariidae Gray, 1853: synonym of

Pediculariinae Pediculariinae is a subfamily (biology), subfamily of small to large predatory or parasitic sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod molluscs in the family Ovulidae and the superfamily Cypraeoidea, the cowries and the cowry allies. As of 2009 ...

Gray, 1853

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1148193 Littorinimorpha Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque