''Turricula'' 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 ...

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 ...

Clavatulidae Clavatulidae is a taxonomic family of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea. The family is not well differentiated morphologically. Clavatulidae was raised, based on cladistic analysis, from subfamily to the family ...

Taxonomy

Clavatulidae was raised, based on cladistic analysis, from subfamily to the family level by Rosenberg in 1998. It remained regarded as a subfamily of

Turridae Turridae is a taxonomic family name for a number of predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea. MolluscaBase (2018). Turridae H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853 (1838). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Specie ...

by several malacologists (Kantor, Sysoev).World Register of Marine Species: Clavatulidae
accessed 1 April 2010. until a new publication in 2011

Fossil records

This genus is known in the fossil records from the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

to the

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...

(age range: from 70.6 to 0.0 million years ago). Fossils of species within this genus have been found all over the world.Fossilworks
/ref>

Description

The turriculated shell is fusiform with a long

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 ...

. The anal sinus is situated in the infrasutural depression above the peripheral carina. The

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 ...

is long and slightly bent. The operculum has a medio-lateral nucleus. The eyes of the animal are situated at the base of the tentacles.

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 ...

formula : 1-0-1.

Distribution

The species of this marine genus occurs in the Indo-West Pacific, from the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

and east Africa to Australia (

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

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 , established_ ...

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 ...

Species

Species within the genus''Turricula'' include: * '' Turricula aethiopica'' (Thiele, 1925) * '' Turricula amplisulcus'' (Barnard, 1958) * † '' Turricula beamensis'' M.A. Peyrot, 1925 * † '' Turricula belgica'' (G.G. Münster, 1826) * † '' Turricula beyrichi'' (R.A. Philippi, 1846) * † '' Turricula brevicauda'' (Deshayes, 1834) * '' Turricula ceylonica'' (Smith E. A., 1877) * '' Turricula faurei'' (Barnard, 1958) * '' Turricula gemmulaeformis'' (Thiele, 1925) * '' Turricula granobalteus'' (Hedley, 1922) * '' Turricula javana'' (Linnaeus, 1767) * '' Turricula navarchus'' (Melvill & Standen, 1903) * '' Turricula nelliae'' (Smith E. A., 1877) * '' Turricula profundorum'' (Smith E. A., 1896) * '' Turricula sulcicancellata'' (Barnard, 1958) * '' Turricula sumatrana'' (Thiele, 1925) * '' Turricula thurstoni'' (Smith E. A., 1896) * '' Turricula tornata'' (Dillwyn, 1817) * '' Turricula turriplana'' (Sowerby III, 1903) * † '' Turricula dimidiata'' Brocchi, 1814Fossile
/ref> * † '' Turricula eolavinia'' Olsson, 1930 * † '' Turricula excelsa'' Bohm, 1926 * † '' Turricula hanguensis'' Cox, 1930 * † '' Turricula haydeni'' Cox, 1930 * † '' Turricula kayalensis'' Dey, 1961 * † '' Turricula promensis silistrensis'' Vredenburg, 1921 * † '' Turricula promensis'' Vredenburg, 1921 * † '' Turricula sethuramae'' Vredenburg, 1921 * † '' Turricula spuria'' Hedley, 1922 * † '' Turricula taurina'' Olsson, 1922 * † '' Turricula terryi'' Olsson, 1922 * † '' Turricula thangaensis'' Vredenburg, 1921 * † '' Turricula wanneri'' (Tesch, 1915) ;Species brought into synonymy: * ''Turricula bijubata'' (Reeve, 1843): synonym of '' Turridrupa bijubata'' (Reeve, 1843) * ''Turricula brunonia'' Dall, 1924: synonym of '' Veprecula brunonia'' (Dall, 1924) * ''Turricula cadaverosa'' (Reeve, 1844): synonym of '' Vexillum cadaverosum'' (Reeve, 1844) * ''Turricula casta'' H. Adams, 1872: synonym of '' Vexillum castum'' (H. Adams, 1872) * ''Turricula ensyuensis'' Shikama, 1977: synonym of ''

Comitas ensyuensis ''Comitas ensyuensis'' is a species of sea snails, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Pseudomelatomidae, the turrids and allies Tucker, J. (2010). Comitas ensyuensis (Shikama, 1977). In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. (2010) World M ...

'' (Shikama, 1977) * ''Turricula flammea'' Schumacher, 1817: synonym of ''Turricula javana'' (Linnaeus, 1767) * ''Turricula granobalteatus'' ic synonym of ''Turricula granobalteus'' (Hedley, 1922) * ''Turricula hondoana'' Dall, 1925: synonym of '' Aforia circinata'' (Dall, 1873) * ''Turricula kamakurana'' (Pilsbry, 1895): synonym of '' Comitas kamakurana'' (Pilsbry, 1895) * ''Turricula kuroharai'' Oyama, 1962: synonym of '' Comitas kuroharai'' (Oyama, 1962) * ''Turricula lavinia'' Dall, 1919: synonym of '' Ptychobela lavinia'' (Dall, 1919) * ''Turricula lavinoides'' Olsson, 1922: synonym of '' Fusiturricula lavinoides'' (Olsson, 1922) * ''Turricula libya'' Dall, 1919: synonym of '' Tiariturris libya'' (Dall, 1919) * ''Turricula limonensis'' Olsson, 1922: synonym of '' Fusiturricula lavinoides'' (Olsson, 1922) * ''Turricula murrawolga'' Garrard, 1961: synonym of '' Comitas murrawolga'' (Garrard, 1961) * ''Turricula rectilateralis'' (G.B. Sowerby II, 1874): synonym of '' Vexillum suluense'' (A. Adams & Reeve, 1850) * ''Turricula scalaria'' (Barnard, 1958): synonym of '' Makiyamaia scalaria'' (Barnard, 1958) * ''Turricula tornatus'' ic synonym of ''Turricula tornata'' (Dillwyn, 1817) * ''Turricula tuberculata'' (Gray, 1839): synonym of ''Turricula nelliae spuria'' (Hedley, 1922) * † ''Turricula waitaraensis'' Marwick, 1926: synonym of † '' Thatcheria waitaraensis'' (Marwick, 1926) ;Taxa inquirenda - further investigation needed: * '' Turricula catena'' * ''Surcula aditus'' Barnard, 1969 * ''Surcula bouvieri'' Jousseaume, 1898 * ''Surcula urnula'' Thiele, 1925

References

Nomenclaturor Zoologicus info
* Li, BQ. & Li, XZ. 2008. ''Report on the two subfamilies Clavatulinae and Cochlespirinae (Mollusca : Neogastropoda : Turridae) from the China seas''. Zootaxa 1771: 31-42 * Wilson, B. 1994. ''Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods.'' Kallaroo, WA : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 2 370 pp.

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3294028 Extant Maastrichtian first appearances