''Ophioceras'' is a genus of closely coiled tarphycerid nautiloid cephalopods, the sole representatives of the family Ophidioceratidae, characterized by an evolute shell with narrow, subrounded, annulated whorls and a subcentral siphuncle composed of thin connecting rings that show no evidence of layering. The mature body chamber is strongly divergent and is the longest proportionally of any tarphycerid. The aperture has a deep hyponomic sinus and ocular sinuses, and so resembles some lituitids. ''Ophioceras'' seem to have its origin in the

Trocholitidae The Trocholitidae are Tarphycerida with whorls in close contact as with the Tarphyceratidae, but in which the siphuncle, similar in structure, becomes dorsal. The Trocholitidae are derived from the Tarphyceratidae, perhaps from different tarphyc ...

, possibly in '' Graftonoceras''. W.M Furnish and Brian F Glenister 1964. Nautiloidea-Tarphyhceria. Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology Part K. Geological Soc of America and Univ Kansas Press. ''Ophioceras'' has a narrow, evolutely wound, closely coiled shell that diverges in the adult stage. The shell is more or less circular in cross section, strongly annulate with close spaced, rounded, transverse ribs. The venter is bicarinate, with keels along either side separated by a flattened surface. The siphuncle is tubular and thin walled, and may be slightly ventral or dorsal of the center. The adult aperture has deep hyponomic and ocular sinuses, not too dissimilar from the Ordovician ''

Lituites ''Lituites'' is an extinct nautiloid genus from the Middle Ordovician and type for the Lituitidae (a tarphycerid family) that in some more recent taxonomies has been classified with the orthocerids and listed under the order Lituitida. Fossil ...

'', to which this genus is possibly allied. Some 12 species have been described which have been reduced to two, ''Ophioceras rudens'' Barrande, 1865 and ''O. simplex'' Barrande, 1865 with two subspecies, ''O. simplex simplex'' and ''O. s. proximum''. Minor evolutionary changes can be observed within both species, which In spite of their widespread distribution do not demonstrate any major geographical variations.Stridsberg, S. & Turek, V., 1997: A revision of the Silurian nautiloid genus Ophioceras Barrande. GFF, Vol. 119 (Pt. 1, March), pp. 21–36. Stockholm. ; Abstrac

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References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q48995742 Prehistoric nautiloid genera Silurian extinctions Silurian animals of Europe Cephalopod families Nautiloids Fossils of Sweden