''Bullata'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

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 family

Marginellidae Marginellidae, or the margin shells, are a taxonomic family of small, often colorful, sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Neogastropoda. Taxonomy The higher classification of the family Marginellidae has long been in a state o ...

, the margin snails.

Distribution

This is a

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

western

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

genus.

Habitat

Representatives from this genus have been recorded at depths from one to 60 metres.

Shell description

The shells of species in this genus are moderately large to very large, range size from 14 mm (''Bullata largillieri'', smallest species of ''Bullata'') to 97.9 mm (largest specimen known of ''Bullata bullata''). (pl I) The shell color is a yellowish-orange to orange- or pinkish-brown, spirally banded (pl II) or with white spots (pl III). The lip is pink, yellow, or orange, darker than shell color (pl IV). The shell surface is smooth and glossy. The shape is elliptical to oblong or

obovate The following terms are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade is divided into two or more leaflets) ...

, moderately to strongly shouldered (pl V bottom). 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 immersed or near so (pl V top). The

aperture In optics, the aperture of an optical system (including a system consisting of a single lens) is the hole or opening that primarily limits light propagated through the system. More specifically, the entrance pupil as the front side image o ...

is narrow to moderately broad, wider anteriorly. The lip is moderately strongly thickened, weakly to strongly denticulate in adults, with a distinct external varix. A siphonal notch is present but a posterior notch is absent. The

parietal callus A parietal callus is a feature of the shell anatomy of some groups of snails, i.e. gastropods. It is a thickened calcareous deposit which may be present on the parietal wall of the aperture of the adult shell. The parietal wall is the margin of ...

ing is weakly to strongly developed, especially posteriorly, and is absent in type species. The columella has four continuous plications occupying less than half the aperture length. The internal

whorl A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). In nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral diagra ...

s are unmodified. (pl VI/VII)

Remarks

The large, patterned shells with an immersed

and 4 moderately heavy columellar plications which are not crowded anteriorly, serve to distinguish this group of species. This genus is restricted to the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

province, where it evolved in the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

as a direct offshoot of ''Prunum''. Coan (1965:189) placed ''Cryptospyra'' as a subgenus of ''Bullata''. Coovert & Coovert (1995:93) consider as distinct genus, as they have separate origins: ''Bullata'' is a direct descendant of Caribbean ''Prunum'', whereas ''Cryptospira'' is restricted to the western

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

where it evolved. Image:Prunum.jpg, '' Prunum'' Image:BullataBullata.jpg, ''Bullata'' Image:Cryptospira.jpg, '' Cryptospira''

Species

Species within the genus ''Bullata'' include: * '' Bullata analuciae'' de Souza & Coovert, 2001 * '' Bullata bullata'' (Born, 1778) - type species * '' Bullata guerrinii'' de Souza & Coovert, 2001 * '' Bullata largillieri'' (Kiener, 1834) * '' Bullata lilacina'' (Sowerby II, 1846) * '' Bullata matthewsi'' (van Mol & Tursch, 1967) ; Species brought into synonymy: * ''Bullata angustata'' (G.B. Sowerby, 1846): synonym of '' Volvarina angustata'' (G.B. Sowerby II, 1846) * ''Bullata bernardi'' (Largilliert, 1845): synonym of '' Cryptospira strigata'' (Dillwyn, 1817) * ''Bullata dactylus'' (Lamarck, 1822): synonym of '' Cryptospira dactylus'' (Lamarck, 1822) * ''Bullata glauca'' (Jousseaume, 1875): synonym of '' Cryptospira glauca'' Jousseaume, 1875 * ''Bullata hindsiana'' (Petit de la Saussaye, 1851): synonym of '' Prunum olivaeforme'' (Kiener, 1834) * ''Bullata lipei'' Clover, 1990: synonym of '' Prunum lipei'' (Clover, 1990) * ''Bullata mabellae'' Melvill & Standen, 1901: synonym of '' Prunum mabellae'' (Melvill & Standen, 1901) * ''Bullata princeps'' G. B. Sowerby III, 1901: synonym of '' Closia princeps'' (G.B. Sowerby III, 1901) * ''Bullata quadrilineata'' (Gaskoin, 1849): synonym of '' Cryptospira quadrilineata'' (Gaskoin, 1849) * ''Bullata sarda'' (Kiener, 1834): synonym of '' Closia sarda'' (Kiener, 1834) * ''Bullata scripta'' (Hinds, 1844): synonym of '' Cryptospira scripta'' (Hinds, 1844) * ''Bullata strigata'' (Dillwyn, 1817): synonym of '' Cryptospira strigata'' (Dillwyn, 1817) * ''Bullata tricincta'' (Hinds, 1844): synonym of '' Cryptospira tricincta'' (Hinds, 1844) * ''Bullata ventricosa'' (Fischer von Waldheim, 1807): synonym of '' Cryptospira ventricosa'' (Fischer von Waldheim, 1807) Image:BullataBullata.jpg, '' Bullata bullata'' Image:Bullatasizes.jpg, '' Bullata largillieri'' and '' Bullata bullata'' Image:Bullatabanded.jpg, ''Bullata bullata'', '' Bullata matthewsi'' and '' Bullata lilacina'' Image:Bullataspotted.jpg,
'' Bullata analucia'', '' Bullata guerrini'', '' Bullata largilleri'' Image:Bullatalips.jpg, Image:Bullatashape.jpg, Spire and shape comparison Image:Bullataventral.jpg, Image:Bullatanotch.jpg,

Distribution

Habitat

Shell description

Remarks

Species

References

Further reading