Bulloidea
Encyclopedia
Bulla is a genus
of medium to large hermaphrodite
sea snails, shelled marine
opisthobranch gastropod molluscs. These herbivorous snails are in the suborder Cephalaspidea
, headshield slugs, and the order
Opisthobranchia
.
These snails are popularly known as "bubble snails", and their shells as "bubble shells", because the shell of some of the species is very inflated indeed, almost spherical in shape, and is also very thin and light.
According to some experts, Bulla is currently the only genus in the family
Bullidae, which in turn is the only member of the superfamily
Bulloidea.
at the apex
. There is no operculum
.
The smooth shell of Bulla is ovate and expanded, with a deep, sunken involute top. Since there is little difference between the shells and in the morphology of the radular teeth, there is some uncertainty about the exact taxonomy of the species in Bulla.
of Bulla is rather different from that of other herbivorous
groups. It has three large corneous crushing plates and ancillary corneous spines, instead of just grinding plates. The crawling snails show prominent, frilled or lobed parapodia.
Bulla species have a soft radula
.
. They bury themselves in mud when the tide is out.
, the colorful nudibranch
Navanax inermis
is a well-known predator of sea slugs, especially Bulla gouldiana, which it envelopes whole.
. For a fuller treatment of the whole group see Cephalaspidea
.
Bulla, Haminoea and Smaragdinella form the well-defined monophyletic
group Bulloidea, according to the 1996 phylogenetic analysis of Paula M. Mikkelsen (Malacologia, 37(2): 375-442). But, according to Dr. Bill Rudman and others, differences in the alimentary canal and reproductive system, still put Haminoea and Smaragdinella into the separate superfamily Haminoeidea.
Historically, since the 18th century and even in the 20th century, the genus name Bulla has been used for a great number of bubble-shelled species that belonged to the order Cephalapsidea. From mid-20th century, authors have began to restrict species to the genus Bulla in its current meaning. But misidentifications were still numerous through high levels of intraspecific variability in the shell, radula
and male genital system. The monograph by Malaquias & Reid (2008) has offered a systematic revision of this genus and has brought order in this genus
Species brought into synonymy :
, including Bulla akera (Gmelin, J.F., 1791), Bulla norwegica (Bruguière, J.G., 1789), Bulla canaliculata (Olivi, 1792), Bulla resiliens (Donovan, E., 1801), Bulla fragilis (Lamarck, J.B.P.A. de, 1822), Bulla hanleyi (Adams A. in Sowerby G.B. II, 1850/1855), Bulla elastica (Sandri & Danilo, 1856), Bulla farrani (Norman, 1890), Bulla globosa (Cantraine, F.J., 1840)
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of medium to large hermaphrodite
Hermaphrodite
In biology, a hermaphrodite is an organism that has reproductive organs normally associated with both male and female sexes.Many taxonomic groups of animals do not have separate sexes. In these groups, hermaphroditism is a normal condition, enabling a form of sexual reproduction in which both...
sea snails, shelled marine
Marine (ocean)
Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...
opisthobranch gastropod molluscs. These herbivorous snails are in the suborder Cephalaspidea
Cephalaspidea
The suborder Cephalaspidea, also known as the headshield slugs and bubble snails, is a clade of sea slugs and bubble snails, marine gastropod mollusks within the larger clade Euopisthobranchia....
, headshield slugs, and the order
Order (biology)
In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
Opisthobranchia
Opisthobranchia
Opisthobranchs are a large and diverse group of specialized complex marine gastropods previously united under Opisthobranchia within the Heterobranchia, but no longer considered to represent a monophyletic grouping...
.
These snails are popularly known as "bubble snails", and their shells as "bubble shells", because the shell of some of the species is very inflated indeed, almost spherical in shape, and is also very thin and light.
According to some experts, Bulla is currently the only genus in the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Bullidae, which in turn is the only member of the superfamily
Taxonomic rank
In biological classification, rank is the level in a taxonomic hierarchy. Examples of taxonomic ranks are species, genus, family, and class. Each rank subsumes under it a number of less general categories...
Bulloidea.
Shell description
All Bulla species have large, ovate external shells, which are large enough to accommodate the whole snail when retracted. All species have rather similarly shaped shells. The shells have a deep, narrow umbilicusUmbilicus (mollusk)
The umbilicus of a shell is the axially aligned, hollow cone-shaped space within the whorls of a coiled mollusc shell. The term umbilicus is often used in descriptions of gastropod shells, i.e...
at the apex
Apex (mollusc)
Apex is an anatomical term for the tip of the mollusc shell of a gastropod, scaphopod, or cephalopod mollusc.-Gastropods:The word "apex" is most often used to mean the tip of the spire of the shell of a gastropod...
. There is no operculum
Operculum (gastropod)
The operculum, meaning little lid, is a corneous or calcareous anatomical structure which exists in many groups of sea snails and freshwater snails, and also in a few groups of land snails...
.
The smooth shell of Bulla is ovate and expanded, with a deep, sunken involute top. Since there is little difference between the shells and in the morphology of the radular teeth, there is some uncertainty about the exact taxonomy of the species in Bulla.
Anatomy of the soft parts
The gizzardGizzard
The gizzard, also referred to as the ventriculus, gastric mill, and gigerium, is an organ found in the digestive tract of some animals, including birds, reptiles, earthworms and some fish. This specialized stomach constructed of thick, muscular walls is used for grinding up food; often rocks are...
of Bulla is rather different from that of other herbivorous
Herbivore
Herbivores are organisms that are anatomically and physiologically adapted to eat plant-based foods. Herbivory is a form of consumption in which an organism principally eats autotrophs such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria. More generally, organisms that feed on autotrophs in...
groups. It has three large corneous crushing plates and ancillary corneous spines, instead of just grinding plates. The crawling snails show prominent, frilled or lobed parapodia.
Bulla species have a soft radula
Radula
The radula is an anatomical structure that is used by molluscs for feeding, sometimes compared rather inaccurately to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food enters the esophagus...
.
Life habits
These snails are mostly nocturnal and can be found on shallow, sandy coasts grazing among sea grasses, feeding primarily on green algaeGreen algae
The green algae are the large group of algae from which the embryophytes emerged. As such, they form a paraphyletic group, although the group including both green algae and embryophytes is monophyletic...
. They bury themselves in mud when the tide is out.
Predators
In the coastal lagoons and bays of CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, the colorful nudibranch
Nudibranch
A nudibranch is a member of what is now a taxonomic clade, and what was previously a suborder, of soft-bodied, marine gastropod mollusks which shed their shell after their larval stage. They are noted for their often extraordinary colors and striking forms...
Navanax inermis
Navanax inermis
Navanax inermis is a species of predatory sea slug, a marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusk in the family Aglajidae and the order Cephalaspidea, the headshield slugs and bubble snails....
is a well-known predator of sea slugs, especially Bulla gouldiana, which it envelopes whole.
Taxonomy
This family seems to have evolved separately in an early stage of the evolutionary history of the opisthobranchsOpisthobranchia
Opisthobranchs are a large and diverse group of specialized complex marine gastropods previously united under Opisthobranchia within the Heterobranchia, but no longer considered to represent a monophyletic grouping...
. For a fuller treatment of the whole group see Cephalaspidea
Cephalaspidea
The suborder Cephalaspidea, also known as the headshield slugs and bubble snails, is a clade of sea slugs and bubble snails, marine gastropod mollusks within the larger clade Euopisthobranchia....
.
Bulla, Haminoea and Smaragdinella form the well-defined monophyletic
Cladistics
Cladistics is a method of classifying species of organisms into groups called clades, which consist of an ancestor organism and all its descendants . For example, birds, dinosaurs, crocodiles, and all descendants of their most recent common ancestor form a clade...
group Bulloidea, according to the 1996 phylogenetic analysis of Paula M. Mikkelsen (Malacologia, 37(2): 375-442). But, according to Dr. Bill Rudman and others, differences in the alimentary canal and reproductive system, still put Haminoea and Smaragdinella into the separate superfamily Haminoeidea.
Historically, since the 18th century and even in the 20th century, the genus name Bulla has been used for a great number of bubble-shelled species that belonged to the order Cephalapsidea. From mid-20th century, authors have began to restrict species to the genus Bulla in its current meaning. But misidentifications were still numerous through high levels of intraspecific variability in the shell, radula
Radula
The radula is an anatomical structure that is used by molluscs for feeding, sometimes compared rather inaccurately to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food enters the esophagus...
and male genital system. The monograph by Malaquias & Reid (2008) has offered a systematic revision of this genus and has brought order in this genus
Species
- Bulla ampulla LinnaeusCarolus LinnaeusCarl Linnaeus , also known after his ennoblement as , was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology...
, 1758 Pacific bulla, ampulle bulla- Distribution : on sandy sublittoral bottoms of warmer seas, tropical Indo-Pacific, Sri Lanka, Philippines
- Length : 60 mm (largest shell of the Cephalaspidea)
- Description : This is the common Bulla in tropical Indo-Pacific; globose, inflated, moderately solid body whorl. The white aperture is as long as the rest of the shell.The rounded outer lip is extended posteriorly beyond the apex. Columella in a reversed ‘S’-shape, smooth and thinly callous. Cream-colored with blotches of dark, purple-brown.
- Bulla arabica Malaquias & Reid, 2008
- Bulla bermudae Verrill and Bush, 1900
- Distribution : Bermudas
- Length : 3 mm
- Bulla clausa Dall, 1889 imperforate bubble
- Distribution : Florida
- Length : 12 mm
- Bulla eburnea Dall, 1881
- Distribution : America, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida
- Length : 7 mm
- Description : found at depths up to 620 m
- Bulla gouldiana PilsbryHenry Augustus PilsbryHenry Augustus Pilsbry was an American biologist, malacologist and carcinologist, among other areas of study. He was a dominant presence in many fields of invertebrate taxonomy for the better part of a century...
, 1895 California bubble, Gould’s bubble, cloudy bubble- Distribution : Northwest America, California to Ecuador
- Length : 30-64 mm
- Description: semi-transparent head, mantle and foot are yellowish-brown with mottled pale-bluish dots; reddish to brown involute (= sunken) apex; the aperture is wide anteriorly, narrow posteriorly; their egg mass is yellow to orange tangled string of jelly, containing oval capsules. Each one contains up to 25 eggs, which develop into veliger larvae.
- Bulla indolens Dall, 1927
- Distribution : Georgia
- Length : 7.5 mm
- Description : found at depths up to 800 m
- Bulla japonica T. Habe, 1976
- Distribution : Japan
- Bulla krebsii Dall, 1889
- Distribution : Guadeloupe
- Length : 8 mm
- Description : found at depths up to 1400 m
- Bulla mabillei E. A. A. Locard, 1896 Mabille’s bubble
- Distribution : Turkey, Canaries, Madeira, Cape Verde, West Africa
- Length : 33-52 mm
- Description : larger than the other European species; difficult to obtain; color : yellowish-brown with dark bluish dots
- Bulla morgana Dall, 1908
- Distribution : West America
- Bulla occidentalis A. AdamsArthur Adams (zoologist)Arthur Adams was an English physician and naturalist.Adams was assistant surgeon on board H.M.S. "Actaeon" in company with HMS Samarang in the British Navy during the survey of the Malay Archipelago, the Japan Sea, Korea and China,from 1843 to 1846. He edited the Zoology of the voyage of H.M.S....
, 1850 (synonym of Bulla striata) common West Indian bubble- Distribution : Brazil, North Carolina to Florida, Bahamas, Caribbean.
- Length : 25 mm
- Description : thin, rotund, oval shell with a smooth, glazed surface; pale color with brown spots; involute (= sunken) apex; large body whorl; long aperture, wide anteriorly; white columella.
- Bulla orientalis T. Habe, 1941
- Distribution : Indo Pacific
- Description : brown punctuate marks on the shell
- Bulla peasiana Pilsbry, 1895
- Bulla pinguicula Seguenza, 1879
- Distribution : Mediterranean, Florida, Caribbean, Azores, Mexico
- Length : 12.8 mm
- Description : found at depths up to 1170 m
- Bulla punctulata A. AdamsArthur Adams (zoologist)Arthur Adams was an English physician and naturalist.Adams was assistant surgeon on board H.M.S. "Actaeon" in company with HMS Samarang in the British Navy during the survey of the Malay Archipelago, the Japan Sea, Korea and China,from 1843 to 1846. He edited the Zoology of the voyage of H.M.S....
In Sowerby, 1850- Distribution : Pacific, California, Mexico, Peru
- Length : 30 mm
- Description : the shell looks like the one of Bulla ampula, but is smaller and more cylindrical. Its color is cream, with clouding of brown or gray in two to four spiral bands, generally spotted with squarish chocolate dots, bordered to the right by white spots.
- Bulla quoyiiBulla quoyiiBulla quoyii, or the brown bubble snail, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Bullidae, the bubble snails. -Description:...
Gray in Dieffenbach, 1843 brown bubble shell- Distribution : Southern Australia, northern New Zealand.
- Length : 44 mm-60 mm
- Description :The calcified shell has a gray-brown color, with blotches of various shades of brown; the snail has a bright honey-golden color. The hind extremities of the headshield have evolved into tentacles, directing the water over Hancock’s organCephalaspideaThe suborder Cephalaspidea, also known as the headshield slugs and bubble snails, is a clade of sea slugs and bubble snails, marine gastropod mollusks within the larger clade Euopisthobranchia....
. The egg-mass is a jelly-like sphere, with the eggs in a spiral string. After the breeding period, there occurs a mass mortality of the animals, just like the sea hares.
- Bulla solida Gmelin, 1791 solid bubble
- Distribution : Mexico, Florida, Texas, Cuba, Colombia.
- Length : 30-52 mm
- Description : found at depths up to 25 m
- Bulla striata BruguièreJean Guillaume BruguièreJean Guillaume Bruguière was a French physician, zoologist and diplomat.Bruguière was born in Montpellier.He was a doctor, connected to the University of Montpellier. His was interested in invertebrates, mostly snails ....
, 1792 common Atlantic bubble, striate bubble- Distribution : Mediterranean, Morocco, Canaries, Azores, Atlantic Ocean, Florida
- Length : 12-30 mm
- Description : The shell is thin, delicate and rather narrow. The body whorl is oval and convex. The smooth elongated aperture narrows posteriorly, but is wide anteriorly. The columellar callus is rather small; The thin outer lip is incurved and extends a little beyond the apex; The color is brown-gray, with darker, smudged dots and dashes, spread unevenly over the surface. The surface is smooth, with some spiral grooves at the posterior end ans at the apical umbilicus. There is no operculumOperculum (gastropod)The operculum, meaning little lid, is a corneous or calcareous anatomical structure which exists in many groups of sea snails and freshwater snails, and also in a few groups of land snails...
. The foot is well developed. There are no parapodia (fleshy winglike outgrowths). The broadened head has no tentacles. The gills and the osphradium are inside the mantle cavity. The radulaRadulaThe radula is an anatomical structure that is used by molluscs for feeding, sometimes compared rather inaccurately to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food enters the esophagus...
has three laterals on each side of the central tooth.
- Bulla vernicosa GouldAugustus Addison GouldAugustus Addison Gould was an American conchologist and malacologist.-Biography:...
, 1859 (most probably a color variant of Bulla ampulla)- Distribution : Indo Pacific, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, Tonga
- Length : 27-50 mm
- Description : white-colored shell with lightbrown spots
Species brought into synonymy :
- Bulla abyssicola Dall, 1881 (junior synonym of Bulla pinguicula)
- Bulla adansoni Philippi, 1847 : synonym of Bulla striata Bruguière, 1792
- Distribution : West Africa, Gabon, Cape Verde
- Length : 15 mm
- Bulla amygdala DillwynLewis Weston DillwynLewis Weston Dillwyn, FRS was a British porcelain manufacturer, naturalist and Member of Parliament.He was born in Walthamstow, Essex, the eldest son of William Dillwyn and Sarah Dillwyn...
, 1817 : synonym of Bulla striata- Distribution : Canaries, East Atlantic, Mediterranean, Florida, Brazil
- Length : 40 mm
- Bulla angasi PilsbryHenry Augustus PilsbryHenry Augustus Pilsbry was an American biologist, malacologist and carcinologist, among other areas of study. He was a dominant presence in many fields of invertebrate taxonomy for the better part of a century...
, 1893 : synonym of Bulla mabillei Locard, 1897- Distribution : Australia
- Length : 25 mm
- Description : smooth, sturdy, cylindrical shell; color : dark brown
- Bulla biplicata A. AdamsArthur Adams (zoologist)Arthur Adams was an English physician and naturalist.Adams was assistant surgeon on board H.M.S. "Actaeon" in company with HMS Samarang in the British Navy during the survey of the Malay Archipelago, the Japan Sea, Korea and China,from 1843 to 1846. He edited the Zoology of the voyage of H.M.S....
, 1850 (synonym of Acteocina bidentata (d'OrbignyAlcide d'OrbignyAlcide Charles Victor Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny was a French naturalist who made major contributions in many areas, including zoology , palaeontology, geology, archaeology and anthropology....
, 1841))- Distribution : Japan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Florida, Caribbean, Brazil, Uruguay
- Length : 4 mm
- Bulla botanica Ch. Hedley, 1918 Australian true bubble, common true bubble : syno,nym of Bulla quoyii Gray, 1843
- Distribution : Australia
- Length : 32-55 mm
- Bulla cruentata A. AdamsArthur Adams (zoologist)Arthur Adams was an English physician and naturalist.Adams was assistant surgeon on board H.M.S. "Actaeon" in company with HMS Samarang in the British Navy during the survey of the Malay Archipelago, the Japan Sea, Korea and China,from 1843 to 1846. He edited the Zoology of the voyage of H.M.S....
, 1850 shiny bubble : synonym of Bulla mabillei Locard, 1897- Distribution : Indian Ocean
- Bulla difficilis T. Habe, 1950 : synonym of Bulla vernicosa Gould, 1859
- Distribution ; Japan
- Bulla gemma A. E. Verrill, 1880 jewel bubble : synonym of Roxania semilaevis (Seguenza, 1880)
- Distribution : New York
- Length : 4.2 mm
- Bulla nebulosa Gould in Adams, 1850 : synonym of Bulla gouldiana Pilsbry, 1895
- Distribution : Atlantic
- Bulla rufolabris A. AdamsArthur Adams (zoologist)Arthur Adams was an English physician and naturalist.Adams was assistant surgeon on board H.M.S. "Actaeon" in company with HMS Samarang in the British Navy during the survey of the Malay Archipelago, the Japan Sea, Korea and China,from 1843 to 1846. He edited the Zoology of the voyage of H.M.S....
in Sowerby, 1850 : synonym of Bulla punctulata A. Adams, 1850- Distribution : West America, Galapagos
- Length : 10-15 mm
- Bulla umbilicata RödingPeter Friedrich RödingPeter Friedrich Röding was a German malacologist who lived in Hamburg. Very little is known about this naturalist.Many of Röding's descriptions are of species which were first named by earlier authors such as Johann Hieronymus Chemnitz, Friedrich Wilhelm Martini and Martin Lister...
, 1798 : synonym of Bulla occidentalis A. Adams, 1850- Distribution : Caribbean
- Length : 17 mm
Other species
In addition to the above, there are a substantial number of names in Bulla that apply to the species Akera bullataAkera bullata
Akera bullata is a species of sea snail , a marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusk in the family Akeridae, a family that is related to the sea hares...
, including Bulla akera (Gmelin, J.F., 1791), Bulla norwegica (Bruguière, J.G., 1789), Bulla canaliculata (Olivi, 1792), Bulla resiliens (Donovan, E., 1801), Bulla fragilis (Lamarck, J.B.P.A. de, 1822), Bulla hanleyi (Adams A. in Sowerby G.B. II, 1850/1855), Bulla elastica (Sandri & Danilo, 1856), Bulla farrani (Norman, 1890), Bulla globosa (Cantraine, F.J., 1840)