Turritellidae

Turritellidae, with the common name "tower shells" or "tower snails", is a taxonomic family of small- to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the Sorbeoconcha clade.

Turritellidae
A shell of a Turritella species
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Superfamily: Cerithioidea
Family: Turritellidae
Lovén, 1847
Genera

See text

Diversity[1]
21 extant genera

125 extant species

Synonyms
  • Archimediellidae Starobogatov, 1982
  • Zariinae Gray, 1850

They are filter feeders; 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 that are more convex and their apertures being more circular than it is in the auger shells, which are similarly high-spired. The columella is curved and the thin operculum has many horns.

Anatomy of the soft parts

These snails burrow into mud or sand, with their foots being relatively small.

A medium-sized sea snail in a genus India
A fossil shell of Turritella communis from a deep borehole in the Netherlands
Turritella terebra shell on display.

Taxonomy

Five subfamilies of this family were recognized in the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005):

  • Turritellinae Lovén, 1847 - synonyms: Zariinae Gray, 1850; Zeacolpini Marwick, 1971; Archimediellidae Starobogatov, 1982; Tachyrhynchinae Golikov, 1986
  • Orectospirinae Habe, 1955
  • Pareorinae Finlay & Marwick, 1937
  • Protominae Marwick, 1957
  • Vermiculariinae Dall, 1913 - synonym: Pseudomesaliidae mahmoud, 1955 (inv.)

Genera

Genera within this family include:

Turritellinae
Orectospirinae
Pareorinae
  • † Batillona Finlay, 1927
  • Pareora Marwick, 1931
Protominae
  • Protoma Baird, 1870 - synonym: Protomella Thiele, 1929)
Vermiculariinae
Other

Palaeontological locations
Main article: Turritellenplatte
Turritella from the Pleistocene of Sicily.
  • The Turritellenplatte of Ermingen ("Erminger Turritellenplatte" near Ulm, Germany) is situated in the northern part of the North Alpine Foreland Basin (NAFB) and is of interest for its abundance of Turritella turris gastropod shells within sedimentary deposits. The fauna of the gastropod-rich sandstone reflects mainly towards near-coastal and shallow marine conditions.[10] Petrographical and palaeontological data allow for a correlation with this area and the Burdigalian age (Lower Miocene epoch). Based on the Sr-isotope composition of shark teeth in the area, the age of the area is about 18,5 Ma.[11]

References
  1. Strong E. E., Colgan D. J., Healy J. M., Lydeard C., Ponder W. F. & Glaubrecht M. (2011). "Phylogeny of the gastropod superfamily Cerithioidea using morphology and molecules". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 162(1): 43-89. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2010.00670.x.
  2. DeVries T. J. (2007). "Cenozoic Turritellidae (Gastropoda) from southern Peru". Journal of Paleontology 81(2): 331-351. doi:10.1666/0022-3360(2007)81[331:CTGFSP2.0.CO;2].
  3. Harzhauser M. (2007). "Oligocene and Aquitanian gastropod faunas from the Sultanate of Oman and their biogeographic implications for the western Indo-Pacific". Palaeontographica Abteilung A 280: 75-121. PDF.
  4. Vos, C.; Bouchet, P. (2014). Armatus Golikov, 1986. In: MolluscaBase (2017). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=575786 on 2017-11-17
  5. Marshall, B. (2017). Colposigma Finlay & Marwick, 1937 †. In: MolluscaBase (2017). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=828132 on 2017-11-17
  6. Vos, C.; Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2013). Mesalia Gray, 1847. In: MolluscaBase (2017). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=138613 on 2017-11-17
  7. Bouchet, P. (2011). Neohaustator Ida, 1952. In: MolluscaBase (2017). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=575807 on 2017-11-17
  8. Halder, K., & Sinha, P. (2014). "Some Eocene Cerithioids (Gastropoda, Mollusca) from Kutch, Western India, and Their Bearing on Palaeobiogeography of the Indian Subcontinent". Paleontology Journal, 2014, Article ID 673469, doi:10.1155/2014/673469.
  9. Marshall, B. (2017). Tropicolpus. In: MolluscaBase (2017). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=828134 on 2017-11-17
  10. Baier J. (2008). "Über die Tertiärbildungen im Ulmer Raum". Documenta Naturae 168: 1-32. München. ISBN 978-3-86544-168-3.
  11. Baier J. (2008). "Ein Beitrag zur Erminger Turritellenplatte (Mittlere Schwäbische Alb, SW-Deutschland)". Jahresbericht Mitt. oberrhein. geol. Ver., N.F. 90: 9-17. Stuttgart, ISSN 0078-2947.

Further reading
  • Mayr H. (1985). A Guide to Fossils. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA. (English translation 1992).
  • Powell A. W. B. (1979). New Zealand Mollusca, William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand, ISBN 0-00-216906-1.
  • Kiel S. (2003) New taxonomic data for the gastropod fauna of the Umzamba Formation (Santonian–Campanian, South Africa); Cretaceous Research 24 (2003) 449–475
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