The subfamily Ovulinae,

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

the ovulines, is a highly specialized,

extant Extant or Least-concern species, least concern is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Exta ...

group of

sea snail Sea snails are slow-moving marine (ocean), marine gastropod Mollusca, molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the Taxonomic classification, taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguishe ...

s in the family

Ovulidae Ovulidae, common names the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries, is a family (biology), family of small to large predatory or parasitic sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Cypraeoidea, the cowries and the co ...

. These are

predatory Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...

or parasitic sea snails, marine

gastropod Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...

mollusk Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...

s within the superfamily

Cypraeoidea Cypraeoidea, the cowries and cowry allies, is a Taxonomic rank, superfamily of sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropods included in the clade Littorinimorpha. This superfamily had been called Cypraeacea and was named by Rafinesque in 1815.M ...

. Species in this subfamily are sometimes referred to as cowries (singular: cowry or cowrie), although this name is commonly used for any member of the superfamily

Description

Ovulinae typically have either an ovate (egg-shaped), lanceolate (lance-shaped) or pyriform (pear-shaped) shell. The

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

is not prominent, and the funiculum is absent. The anal canal is twisted anteriorly. The extremities are usually short and the outer lip of the aperture has well-developed teeth. The mantle usually completely covers the shell in life. The mantle is typically brightly colored, while the shell is often white, although in some cases the shell is pink or even red. This can easily be seen in photographs of the snails.

Habitat

Ovulines live parasitically on

anthozoa Anthozoa is one of the three subphyla of Cnidaria, along with Medusozoa and Endocnidozoa. It includes Sessility (motility), sessile marine invertebrates and invertebrates of brackish water, such as sea anemones, Scleractinia, stony corals, soft c ...

ns (of the phylum

Cnidaria Cnidaria ( ) is a phylum under kingdom Animalia containing over 11,000 species of aquatic invertebrates found both in fresh water, freshwater and marine environments (predominantly the latter), including jellyfish, hydroid (zoology), hydroids, ...

), feeding off of the exterior of the organism. In these cases, the ovuline species in question has almost always evolved a size, shape, and color that mimics the appearance of the cnidarians and camouflages itself with it. Alimentary homochromy, or the process of gaining the pigmentation of a host by feeding on the host, further helps to hide ovulines amongst their prey. Most members of the Ovulines live in tropical and subtropical waters.

Taxonomy

Species within the family Ovulidae have been reclassified numerous times throughout the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, and this has also affected the classification of the subfamily Ovulinae (Shilder 1932, Allan 1956, Cate 1973, Fehse 2001). Historically, the Ovulids were separated into two subfamilies, Ovulinae and Volvinae, although this is no longer true. The taxonomy has changed often.

Bouchet & Rocroi (2005)

Bouchet and Rocroi (2005) present the following subfamilies of the family Ovulidae, of which Ovulinae is a subfamily. *Ovulinae Fleming, 1822 *Cypraediinae Schilder, 1927 *Jenneriinae Thiele, 1929 *Pediculariinae

Gray Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...

, 1853 *Pseudocypraeinae Steadman & Cotton, 1943

Fehse (2007)

Fehse (2007) presents the following subfamilies of the family Ovulidae, of which Ovulinae is a subfamily. *Prionovolvinae Fehse, 2007 *Simniinae Schilder, 1925 *Ovulinae Fleming, 1828 *Aclyvolvinae Fehse, 2007 At least one researcher suggests that there is still much work to be done is properly categorizing the taxonomy of the Ovulids in general, and the Ovulines in particular.

Genera

Genera within the Ovulinae include: * '' Calcarovula'' C. N. Cate, 1973 * '' Kurodaovula'' Azuma, 1987 * '' Ovula'' Bruguière, 1789 * ''

Pellasimnia ''Pellasimnia'' is a genus of predatory sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusk in the subfamily Ovulinae of the family Ovulidae, sometimes known as the false cowries and the cowry allies.Rosenberg, G. (2010). Pellasimnia Iredale, 19 ...

'' Schilder, 1939 * ''

Phenacovolva ''Phenacovolva'' is a genus of sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod molluscs in the family (biology), family Ovulidae. Description The narrow, tubular shells taper at both ends. The shell grows to a length of 6 cm. Distribution The ...

'' Iredale, 1930 * '' Takasagovolva'' Azuma, 1974 * '' Volva'' Röding, 1798 ;Genera brought into synonymy: * ''Amphiperas'' Herrmannsen, 1846: synonym of Ovula Bruguière, 1789 * ''Birostra'' Swainson, 1840: synonym of '' Volva'' Röding, 1798 * ''Birostris'' Fabricius, 1823: synonym of '' Volva'' Röding, 1798 * ''Ovulum'' G. B. Sowerby I, 1828: synonym of Ovula Bruguière, 1789 (invalid: unjustified emendation of Ovula) * ''Parlicium'' Schilder, 1939: synonym of Ovula Bruguière, 1789 * ''Radius'' Montfort, 1810: synonym of '' Volva'' Röding, 1798 *'' Primovula'' *'' Diminovula'' *'' Margovula'' *'' Calpurnus'' *'' Procalpurnus''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q18392239 Ovulidae