Volutidae, common name

Common name

A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...

 volutes, are a taxonomic family

Family

In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...

 of predatory sea snail

Sea snail

Sea snail is a common name for those snails that normally live in saltwater, marine gastropod molluscs....

s that range in size from 9 mm to over 500 mm, 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 mollusks. Most of the species have 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...

.

Distribution

This family of sea snails are found mainly in tropical

Tropics

The tropics is a region of the Earth surrounding the Equator. It is limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately  N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at  S; these latitudes correspond to the axial tilt of the Earth...

 seas, though some species also inhabit the waters of the polar circle

Polar circle

A polar circle is either the Arctic Circle or the Antarctic Circle. On Earth, the Arctic Circle is located at a latitude of  N, and the Antarctic Circle is located at a latitude of  S....

s.

Shell description

The shell of species such as Melo amphora can grow as large as 50 cm (19.7 inches) in length.

Volutes are distinguished by their distinctively marked spiral shells (to which the family name refers, voluta meaning "scroll" in Latin).

The shells have an elongated aperture in their first whorl and an inner lip characterised by a number of deep plait

Plait (gastropod)

A plait is an anatomical feature which is present the shells of some snails, or gastropods. This sculpture occurs often in the shells of marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Neogastropoda, but it is also found in some pulmonate land snails....

s. The elaborate decorations of the shells has made them a popular collectors' item, with the imperial volute (Aulica imperialis) of the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

 being particularly prized.

Subfamilies and tribes

According to Bail & Poppe (2001) Volutidae can be subdivided into the following Subfamilies and tribes:

• Amoriinae  Gray, 1857
  • Tribe Meloini Pilsbry
    Henry Augustus Pilsbry
    Henry 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...
    
     & Olsson, 1954
  • Tribe Amoriini Gray, 1857
• Athletinae  Pilsbry
  Henry Augustus Pilsbry
  Henry 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...
  
   & Olsson, 1954
• Calliotectinae  Pilsbry
  Henry Augustus Pilsbry
  Henry 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...
  
   & Olsson, 1954
• Cymbiinae H. Adams
  Henry Adams (zoologist)
  Henry Adams was an English naturalist and conchologist.With his brother Arthur Adams, also a noted conchologist, he wrote three volumes, 1858.-References:...
  
   & A. Adams
  Arthur 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....
  
  , 1853
  • Tribe Adelomelonini Pilsbry
    Henry Augustus Pilsbry
    Henry 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...
    
     & Olsson, 1954
  • Tribe Alcithoini Pilsbry
    Henry Augustus Pilsbry
    Henry 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...
    
     & Olsson, 1954
  • Tribe Cymbiini H. Adams
    Henry Adams (zoologist)
    Henry Adams was an English naturalist and conchologist.With his brother Arthur Adams, also a noted conchologist, he wrote three volumes, 1858.-References:...
    
     & A. Adams
    Arthur 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....
    
    , 1853
  • Tribe Livoniini Bail & Poppe, 2001
  • Tribe Odontocymbiolini Clench & Turner, 1964
  • Tribe Zidonini H. Adams
    Henry Adams (zoologist)
    Henry Adams was an English naturalist and conchologist.With his brother Arthur Adams, also a noted conchologist, he wrote three volumes, 1858.-References:...
    
     & A. Adams
    Arthur 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....
    
    , 1853
• Fulgorariinae
  Fulgorariinae
  The subfamily Fulgorariinae contains sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Volutidae. They are characterized by an uniserial radula with tricuspid teeth. Lateral cusps are thickest along the lateral edge, broader and generally longer than the central cusps. The protoconch is large or...
  
    Pilsbry
  Henry Augustus Pilsbry
  Henry 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...
  
   & Olsson, 1954
• Plicolivinae  Bpichet, 1990
• Scaphellinae  Gray, 1857
• Volutinae 
  • Tribe Lyriini Pilsbry
    Henry Augustus Pilsbry
    Henry 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...
    
     & Olsson, 1954
  • Tribe Volutini Rafinesque
    Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz
    Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz, as he is known in Europe, was a nineteenth-century polymath who made notable contributions to botany, zoology, the study of prehistoric earthworks in North America and Mesoamerican ancient linguistics.Rafinesque was eccentric, and is often portrayed as an...
    
    , 1815

Genera

Genera within the Volutidae include:

• Adelomelon
  Adelomelon
  Adelomelon is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Volutidae.-Species:Species within the genus Adelomelon include:* Adelomelon ancilla * Adelomelon beckii...
  
  Dall
  W. H. Dall
  William Healey Dall was an American naturalist, a prominent malacologist, and one of the earliest scientific explorers of interior Alaska...
  
  , 1906
• Alcithoe
  Alcithoe
  Alcithoe is a genus of large sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Volutidae, the volutes.-Species:Species within the genus Alcithoe include:* Alcithoe aillaudorum Alcithoe is a genus of large sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Volutidae, the volutes.-Species:Species...
  
  H. Adams
  Henry Adams (zoologist)
  Henry Adams was an English naturalist and conchologist.With his brother Arthur Adams, also a noted conchologist, he wrote three volumes, 1858.-References:...
  
   & A. Adams
  Arthur 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....
  
  ,1853
• Amoria Gray, 1855
• Ampulla
  Ampulla
  An ampulla was, in Ancient Rome, a "small nearly globular flask or bottle, with two handles" . The word is used of these in archaeology, and of later flasks, often handle-less and much flatter, for holy water or holy oil in the Middle Ages....
  
  Röding, 1798
• Arctomelon
  Arctomelon
  Arctomelon is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Volutidae.-Species:Species within the genus Arctomelon include:* Arctomelon benthalis * Arctomelon stearnsii...
  
  Dall
  W. H. Dall
  William Healey Dall was an American naturalist, a prominent malacologist, and one of the earliest scientific explorers of interior Alaska...
  
  , 1915
• Callipara
  Callipara
  Callipara is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Volutidae.-Species:Species within the genus Callipara include:Subgenus Callipara sensu stricto* Callipara africana...
  
  Gray, 1847
• Calliotectum
  Calliotectum
  Calliotectum is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Volutidae.-Species:Species within the genus Calliotectum include:* Calliotectum dalli * Calliotectum egregium Bouchet & Poppe, 1995...
  
  Dall
  W. H. Dall
  William Healey Dall was an American naturalist, a prominent malacologist, and one of the earliest scientific explorers of interior Alaska...
  
  , 1890
• Cymbiola
  Cymbiola
  Cymbiola is a genus of large predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Volutidae, the volutes. Some of the species within this genus are sometimes placed in the genus Cymbiolacca Iredale, 1929, which is also sometimes treated as a subgenus of Cymbiola.-Species:Species and...
  
  Swainson, 1831
• Cymbiolacca
  Cymbiolacca
  Cymbiolacca is a small taxonomic genus of medium-sized predatory marine gastropod mollusc in the family Volutidae, the volutes. This genus is often treated as a subgenus of Cymbiola Swainson, 1831.-Distribution:...
  
  
• Cymbium
  Cymbium
  Cymbium may refer to:*Cymbium , feature of a spider's pedipalp*Cymbium , a genus of sea snails...
  
  Röding, 1798
  • Cymbium cymbium
    Cymbium cymbium
    Cymbium cymbium is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Volutidae, the volutes.-External links:...
    
    
  • Cymbium glans
    Cymbium glans
    Cymbium glans is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Volutidae, the volutes....
    
    
  • Cymbium marmoratum
    Cymbium marmoratum
    Cymbium marmoratum is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Volutidae, the volutes....
    
    
  • Cymbium olla
    Cymbium olla
    Cymbium olla is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Volutidae, the volutes.-External links:...
    
    (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Cymbium pepo
    Cymbium pepo
    Cymbium pepo is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Volutidae, the volutes....
    
    
• Enaeta
  Enaeta
  Enaeta is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Volutidae.-Species:Species within the genus Enaeta include:* Enaeta barnesii * Enaeta cumingii...
  
  H. Adams
  Henry Adams (zoologist)
  Henry Adams was an English naturalist and conchologist.With his brother Arthur Adams, also a noted conchologist, he wrote three volumes, 1858.-References:...
  
   and A. Adams
  Arthur 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....
  
  , 1853
• Ericusa
  Ericusa
  Ericusa is a small taxonomic genus of medium-sized predatory marine gastropod molluscs in the family Volutidae, the volutes..-Distribution:Ericusa are endemic to Australia...
  
  H. Adams
  Henry Adams (zoologist)
  Henry Adams was an English naturalist and conchologist.With his brother Arthur Adams, also a noted conchologist, he wrote three volumes, 1858.-References:...
  
   and A. Adams
  Arthur 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....
  
  , 1858
• Fulgoraria
  Fulgoraria
  Fulgoraria is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Volutidae.-Species:Species within the genus Fulgoraria include:Subgenus Fulgoraria Schumacher, 1817* Fulgoraria ericarum Douté, 1997...
  
  Schumacher, 1817
• Fusivoluta
  Fusivoluta
  Fusivoluta is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Volutidae.-Species:Species within the genus Fusivoluta include:* Fusivoluta anomala * Fusivoluta barnardi Rehder, 1969...
  
  E. von Martens, 1902
• Harpovoluta
  Harpovoluta
  Harpovoluta is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Volutidae.-Species:Species within the genus Harpovoluta include:* Harpovoluta charcoti...
  
  Thiele, 1912
• Harpulina
  Harpulina
  Harpulina is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Volutidae.-Species:Species within the genus Harpulina include:* Harpulina arausiaca * Harpulina lapponica...
  
  Dall
  W. H. Dall
  William Healey Dall was an American naturalist, a prominent malacologist, and one of the earliest scientific explorers of interior Alaska...
  
  , 1906
• Iredalina Finlay
  Harold John Finlay
  Harold John Finlay was a New Zealand palaeontologist and conchologist. He was born in Comilla, India , on 22 March 1901....
  
  , 1926
• Leptoscapha
  Leptoscapha
  Leptoscapha is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Volutidae.-Species:Species within the genus Leptoscapha include:* Leptoscapha crassilabrum...
  
  Fischer, 1883
• Livonia Gray, 1855
• Lyria
  Lyria (gastropod)
  Lyria is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Volutidae.-Species:Species within the genus Lyria include:* Lyria anna * Lyria bondarevi Bail, 2004* Lyria brianoi Poppe, 1999...
  
  Gray, 1847
• Melo Broderip in Sowerby I, 1826

• Minicymbiola
  Minicymbiola
  Minicymbiola is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Volutidae.-Species:Species within the genus Minicymbiola include:* Minicymbiola corderoi...
  
  Klappenbach, 1979
• Miomelon
  Miomelon
  Miomelon is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Volutidae.-Species:Species within the genus Miomelon include:* Miomelon alarconi Stuardo & Villas, 1974* Miomelon eltanini Dell, 1990...
  
  Dall
  W. H. Dall
  William Healey Dall was an American naturalist, a prominent malacologist, and one of the earliest scientific explorers of interior Alaska...
  
  , 1907
• Mitreola
  Mitreola
  Mitreola is a genus of fossil sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Volutidae, the volutes.-Species:Species within the genus Mitreola include:...
  
  Swainson, 1833 †
• Nannamoria
  Nannamoria
  Nannamoria is a small taxonomic genus of small-sized sea snails, predatory marine gastropod molluscs in the family Volutidae, the volutes.-Distribution:Nannamoria volutes are endemic to Australia...
  
  Iredale, 1929
• Nanomelon
  Nanomelon
  Nanomelon is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Volutidae.-Species:Species within the genus Nanomelon include:* Nanomelon viperinus Leal & Bouchet, 1989* Nanomelon vossi Leal & Rios, 1990...
  
  Leal & Bouchet, 1989
• Neptuneopsis
  Neptuneopsis
  Neptuneopsis is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Volutidae.-Species:Species within the genus Neptuneopsis include:* Neptuneopsis gilchristi Sowerby III, 1898...
  
  Sowerby III, 1898
• Notopeplum
  Notopeplum
  Notopeplum is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Volutidae.-Species:Species within the genus Notopeplum include:* Notopeplum annulatum Wilson, 1972* Notopeplum cossignanii Poppe, 1999...
  
  Finlay, 1927
• Notavoluta Cotton, 1946
• Odontocymbiola
  Odontocymbiola
  Odontocymbiola is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Volutidae.-Species:Species within the genus Odontocymbiola include:* Odontocymbiola americana * Odontocymbiola magellanica...
  
  Clench & Turner, 1964
• Pachymelon 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...
  
  , 1926
• Paramoria
  Paramoria
  Paramoria is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Volutidae.-Species:Species within the genus Paramoria include:* Paramoria guntheri * Paramoria johnclarki Bail & Limpus, 1997...
  
  McMichael, 1960
• Plicovula Petuch, 1979
• Provocator
  Provocator (gastropod)
  Provocator is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Volutidae.-Species:Species within the genus Provocator include:* Provocator mirabilis * Provocator corderoi Carcelles, 1947...
  
  Watson,1882
• Scaphella
  Scaphella
  Scaphella is a genus of large sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Volutidae, the volutes. This is a tropical genus which occurs in the Western Atlantic Ocean....
  
  Swainson, 1832
• Tenebrincola
  Tenebrincola
  Tenebrincola is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Volutidae. It is a Western Pacific abyssal genus, which is defined by a very thin, smooth shell, a radula of the fulgorarid type, and the presence of an operculum...
  
  Harasewych & Kantor, 1991
• Teramachia
• Tractolira
  Tractolira
  Tractolira is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Volutidae.-Species:Species within the genus Tractolira include:* Tractolira delli Leal & Harasewych, 2005* Tractolira germonae Harasewych, 1987...
  
  Dall
  W. H. Dall
  William Healey Dall was an American naturalist, a prominent malacologist, and one of the earliest scientific explorers of interior Alaska...
  
  , 1890
• Voluta
  Voluta
  Voluta is a genus of medium to large sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Volutidae, the volutes. -Species:Species in the genus Voluta include:* Voluta ebraea Linnaeus, 1758* Voluta morrisoni...
  
  Linnaeus, 1758
• Volutifusus
  Volutifusus
  Volutifusus is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Volutidae.-Species:Species within the genus Volutifusus include:* Volutifusus aguayoi * Volutifusus piratica...
  
  Conrad, 1863
• Volutoconus Crosse, 1871
• Waihaoia 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...
  
  , 1926
• Zygomelon
  Zygomelon
  Zygomelon is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Volutidae.-Species:Species within the genus Zygomelon include:* Zygomelon zodion Harasewych & Marshall, 1995...
  
  Harasewych & Marshall,1995
• Zidona
  Zidona
  Zidona is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Volutidae....
  
  H. Adams
  Henry Adams (zoologist)
  Henry Adams was an English naturalist and conchologist.With his brother Arthur Adams, also a noted conchologist, he wrote three volumes, 1858.-References:...
  
   and A. Adams
  Arthur 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....
  
  , 1853