Turritellidae
Encyclopedia
Turritellidae, the tower snails, is a taxonomic 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...

 of small to medium-sized sea snail
Sea snail
Sea snail is a common name for those snails that normally live in saltwater, marine gastropod molluscs....

s, 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...

 gastropod molluscs in the clade
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...

 Sorbeoconcha
Sorbeoconcha
Sorbeoconcha is a taxonomic clade of snails, i.e. gastropods, mainly marine species with gills and opercula, within the clade Caenogastropoda.The taxon Sorbeoconcha was named by Winston Ponder and David R. Lindberg in 1997.-1997 taxonomy:...

.

These snails are filter feeder
Filter feeder
Filter feeders are animals that feed by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, typically by passing the water over a specialized filtering structure. Some animals that use this method of feeding are clams, krill, sponges, baleen whales, and many fish and some sharks. Some birds,...

s. This method of feeding is somewhat unusual among gastropod mollusks, but is very common in bivalves.

Shell description

The shells of turritellid species have whorls
Whorl (mollusc)
A whorl is a single, complete 360° revolution or turn in the spiral growth of a mollusc shell. A spiral configuration of the shell is found in of numerous gastropods, but it is also found in shelled cephalopods including Nautilus, Spirula and the large extinct subclass of cephalopods known as the...

 that are more convex and an aperture
Aperture
In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture of an optical system is the opening that determines the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. The aperture determines how collimated the admitted rays are,...

 which is more circular than it is in the auger shells which are similarly high-spired. The columella
Columella
Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella is the most important writer on agriculture of the Roman empire. Little is known of his life. He was probably born in Gades , possibly of Roman parents. After a career in the army , he took up farming...

 is curved and the thin 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...

 is horny.

Anatomy of the soft parts

These snails burrow into mud or sand. The foot is relatively small.

Taxonomy

The following five subfamilies have been recognized in the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005)
Taxonomy of the Gastropoda (Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005)
The taxonomy of the Gastropoda as it was revised by Philippe Bouchet and Jean-Pierre Rocroi is currently the most up-to-date overall system for classifying gastropod mollusks...

:
  • Turritellinae Lovén, 1847 - synonyms: Zariinae Gray, 1850; Zeacolpini Marwick, 1971; Archimediellidae Starobogatov, 1982; Tachyrhynchinae Golikov, 1986
  • Orectospirinae Habe, 1955
  • Pareorinae Finlay
    Harold John Finlay
    Harold John Finlay was a New Zealand palaeontologist and conchologist. He was born in Comilla, India , on 22 March 1901....

     & Marwick, 1937
  • Protominae Marwick
    John Marwick
    John Marwick MM was a New Zealand palaeontologist and geologist.John Marwick was born near Oamaru, New Zealand, on 3 February 1891, the son of Hugh Marwick, and his wife, Jane née Cuthbert. While at Waitaki Boys' High School he helped to collect fossil shells and learned the beginnings of how to...

    , 1957
  • Vermiculariinae Dall, 1913 - synonym: Pseudomesaliidae mahmoud, 1955 (inv.)

Genera

Genera within the family Turritellidae include:

Turritellinae
  • Archimediella Sacco, 1895
  • Banzarecolpus Powell, 1957
  • Colpospira
    Colpospira
    Colpospira is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Turritellidae.-Species:Species within the genus Colpospira include:* Colpospira accisa * Colpospira atkinsoni...

    Donald, 1900
  • Gazameda
    Gazameda
    Gazameda is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Turritellidae.-Species:Species within the genus Gazameda include:* Gazameda declivis * Gazameda gunnii...

    Iredale, 1924
  • Glyptozaria
    Glyptozaria
    Glyptozaria is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Turritellidae.-Species:Species within the genus Glyptozaria include:* Glyptozaria columnaria Cotton & Woods, 1935* Glyptozaria opulenta...

    Iredale, 1924
  • Incatella
    Incatella
    Incatella is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Turritellidae.-Species:Species within the genus Incatella include:* Incatella cingulata * Incatella cingulatiformis...

    DeVries, 2007
  • Maoricolpus
    Maoricolpus
    Maoricolpus, common name the "New Zealand screw shells", is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Turritellidae, the Turritella snails...

    Finlay, 1927
  • Neohaustator Otuka, 1934
  • Spirocolpus Finlay, 1927
  • Stiracolpus
    Stiracolpus
    Stiracolpus is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Turritellidae.-Species:Species within the genus Stiracolpus include:* Stiracolpus ahiparanus * Stiracolpus pagoda...

    Finlay, 1926
  • Tachyrhynchus
    Tachyrhynchus
    Tachyrhynchus is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Turritellidae.-Species:Species within the genus Tachyrhynchus include:* Tachyrhynchus erosus * Tachyrhynchus pratomus Dall, 1919...

    Mörch
    Otto Andreas Lowson Mörch
    Otto Andreas Lowson Mörch was a biologist, specifically a malacologist. He lived in Sweden, in Denmark, and in France.- Taxa described :Bibliography and taxa described by Otto Andreas Lowson Mörch include:...

    , 1868
  • Turritella
    Turritella
    Turritella is a genus of medium-sized sea snails with an operculum, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Turritellidae. They have tightly coiled shells, whose overall shape is basically that of an elongated cone....

    Lamarck, 1799 - type genus of the family, synonyms: Torcula Gray, 1847; Proto Blainville, 1824
    • subgenus Haustator Montfort, 1810
  • Zeacolpus
    Zeacolpus
    Zeacolpus is a genus of medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Turritellidae, known as the turritellas or tower shells...

    Finlay
    Harold John Finlay
    Harold John Finlay was a New Zealand palaeontologist and conchologist. He was born in Comilla, India , on 22 March 1901....

    , 1927
  • Zaria Gray, 1842


Orectospirinae
  • Orectospira
    Orectospira
    Orectospira is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Turritellidae.-Species:Species within the genus Orectospira include:* Orectospira shikoensis * Orectospira tectiformis...

    Dall, 1925


Pareorinae
  • Mesalia
    Mesalia
    Mesalia is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Turritellidae.-Species:Species within the genus Mesalia include:* Mesalia brevialis * Mesalia flammifera...

    Gray, 1847
  • Pareora
    Pareora
    Pareora is a settlement in New Zealand. It is located close to State Highway 1, which bypasses the western edge of the town, and close to the Pacific Ocean coast, five kilometres north of Saint Andrews and 10 kilometres south of Timaru. The Pareora River reaches the ocean just to the south of the...

    Marwick, 1931


Protominae
  • Protoma
    Protoma
    Protoma is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Turritellidae....

    Baird, 1870 - synonym: Protomella Thiele, 1929


Vermiculariinae
  • Vermicularia
    Vermicularia
    Vermicularia is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Turritellidae.-Species:Species within the genus Vermicularia include:* Vermicularia bathyalis Petuch, 2002* Vermicularia fargoi Olsson, 1951...

    Lamarck, 1799

Palaeontological locations

  • The Turritellenplatte
    Turritellenplatte
    The Turritellenplatte of Ermingen is a type of very rich fossil-bearing rock which is of particular interest to geologists and paleontologists...

     of Ermingen
    ("Erminger Turritellenplatte" near Ulm
    Ulm
    Ulm is a city in the federal German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at 120,000 , forms an urban district of its own and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau district. Ulm, founded around 850, is rich in history and...

    , Germany
    Germany
    Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

    ) is situated in the northern part of the North Alpine Foreland Basin (NAFB) and is famous for its abundance of Turritella
    Turritella
    Turritella is a genus of medium-sized sea snails with an operculum, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Turritellidae. They have tightly coiled shells, whose overall shape is basically that of an elongated cone....

     turris
    gastropod shells within sedimentary deposit
    Sedimentary rock
    Sedimentary rock are types of rock that are formed by the deposition of material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles to settle and accumulate or minerals to precipitate from a solution....

    s. The fauna of this gastropod-rich sandstone reflects mainly near-coastal and shallow marine conditions. Petrographical and palaeontological data allow a correlation of Turritellenplatte of Ermingen with Burdigalian
    Burdigalian
    The Burdigalian is, in the geologic timescale, an age or stage in the early Miocene. It spans the time between 20.43 ± 0.05 Ma and 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma...

     (Lower Miocene
    Miocene
    The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...

    ). Sr-isotope composition of shark
    Shark
    Sharks are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. The earliest known sharks date from more than 420 million years ago....

     teeth suggests an age of about 18,5 Ma for the Turritellenplatte of Ermingen.

Further reading

  • Mayr H. (1985). A Guide to Fossils. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA. (English translation 1992).
  • Powell A. W. B.
    Arthur William Baden Powell
    Dr Arthur William Baden Powell CBE was a New Zealand malacologist, naturalist and palaeontologist, a major influence in the study and classification of New Zealand molluscs through much of the twentieth century. He was known to his friends and family by his third name, "Baden".Powell was born at...

     (1979). New Zealand Mollusca, William Collins Publishers Ltd
    HarperCollins
    HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...

    , Auckland, New Zealand, ISBN 0-00-216906-1.

External links

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