The Ranellidae,
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
triton shells or tritons, are a
taxonomic family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
of small to very large
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 ...
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,
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 in the order
Littorinimorpha
Littorinimorpha is a large order of snails, gastropods, consisting primarily of sea snails ( marine species), but also including some freshwater snails ( limnic species) and land snails ( terrestrial species).Bouchet P. & Rocroi J.-P. (Ed.); Frà ...
.
Distribution
The Tritons are principally equatorial in their geographical distribution, and belong more especially to the
Asiatic fauna. Those with the siphonal canal very much produced are obtained from deep water. The cancellated forms are from sand, in deep water; and those covered with an epidermis are chiefly from sandy mud, in from six to thirty fathoms.
Adams, H. & Adams, A. (1853-1858). The genera of Recent Mollusca; arranged according to their organization. London, van Voorst. Vol. 1: xl + 484 pp.; vol. 2: 661 pp.; vol. 3: 138 pls
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Subfamilies
According to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005, the family Ranellidae consisted of two subfamilies:
*Ranellinae Gray, 1854 - synonyms: Agrobuccininae Kilias, 1973; Simpulidae Dautzenberg, 1900; Gyrineinae Higo & Goto, 1993 (n.a.)
*Cymatiinae Iredale, 1913 (1854) - synonyms: Tritoniidae H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853 (inv.); Neptunellinae Gray, 1854; Lampusiidae Newton, 1891; Lotoriidae Harris, 1897; Septidae Dall & Simpson, 1901; Aquillidae Pilsbry, 1904; Nyctilochidae Dall, 1912; Charoniinae Powell, 1933
The Cymatiinae now form a separate family: Cymatiidae.
Genera
The family Ranellidae contains the following genera:Priene
Priene (; ) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek city of Ionia (and member of the Ionian League) located at the base of an escarpment of Mycale, about north of what was then the course of the Maeander River (now called the Büyük Menderes Rive ...
'' H. Adams & A. Adams, 1858
* '' Ranella'' Lamarck, 1816
* †'' Ranellina'' - assigned to Bursidae by Palmer and Brann in 1966Priene
Priene (; ) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek city of Ionia (and member of the Ionian League) located at the base of an escarpment of Mycale, about north of what was then the course of the Maeander River (now called the Büyük Menderes Rive ...
'' H. Adams & A. Adams, 1858
* ''Mayena'' Iredale, 1917: synonym of '' Ranella'' Lamarck, 1816
* †''Mediargo'' Terry, 1968: synonym of '' Argobuccinum'' Herrmannsen, 1846
References
* Bouchet P. & Rocroi J.-P. (2005). Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families. Malacologia. 47(1–2): 1-397
Further reading
* Powell A W B, ''New Zealand Mollusca'', William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979
* Glen Pownall, ''New Zealand Shells and Shellfish'', Seven Seas Publishing Pty Ltd, Wellington, New Zealand 1979
External links
Beu A.G. (1998). Résultats des Campagnes MUSORSTOM: 19. Indo-West Pacific Ranellidae, Bursidae and Personidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda), a monograph of the New Caledonian fauna and revisions of related taxa. Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle. 178: 1-255
Strong E.E., Puillandre N., Beu A.G., Castelin M. & Bouchet P. (2019). Frogs and tuns and tritons – A molecular phylogeny and revised family classification of the predatory gastropod superfamily Tonnoidea (Caenogastropoda). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 130: 18-34
*
{{Authority control
Taxa named by John Edward Gray