Turbinellinae are a subfamily of large deepwater sea snails, marine gastropod

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

Turbinellidae Turbinellidae are a family of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Neogastropoda. Members of this family are predators. Distribution Species in this family are found worldwide, mostly in tropical shallow waters but some in deep wa ...

.Bouchet, P. (2011). Turbinellinae. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=23135 on 2011-04-27 This subfamily is in the family

within the clade Neogastropoda (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005). This is a small subfamily with only three genera and some 10 extant species described.

Distribution

Species of this subfamily can be found in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

and in the Caribbean. The species '' Syrinx aruanus'' (Linnaeus, 1758), the largest living gastropod, is distributed along the coasts of Western and Northern Australia to

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

Description

Species in this family have thick-shelled, fusiform shells with conical-shaped

whorls 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 ...

. The large body whorl ends in a long siphonal canal. The

columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (; Arabic: , 4 – ) was a prominent writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His ' in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture, together with the wo ...

contains three to four plaits.

Genera and species

Genera in the subfamily Turbinellinae include : * '' Cryptofusus'' Beu, 2011 * '' Syrinx'' Röding, 1798 * '' Turbinella'' Lamarck, 1799 ;Genus brought into synonymy : * ''Buccinella'' Perry, 1811 : synonym of ''Turbinella'' Lamarck, 1799

References

* Vaught, K.C. (1989). ''A classification of the living Mollusca''. American Malacologists: Melbourne, FL (USA). . XII, 195 pp. {{Taxonbar, from=Q7853770 Turbinellidae