''Calliotectum'' 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 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 ...

Volutidae Volutidae, common name volutes, are a taxonomic family of predatory sea snails that range in size from 9 mm to over 500 mm. They are marine gastropod mollusks. Most of the species have no operculum. Distribution This family of sea s ...

. The genus was first described by

William Healey Dall William Healey Dall (August 21, 1845 – March 27, 1927) was an American natural history, naturalist, a prominent Malacology, malacologist, and one of the earliest scientific explorers of interior Alaska. He described many mollusks of the Pacifi ...

in 1890.

Description

The shell shows a dark vernicose

periostracum The periostracum ( ) is a thin, organic coating (or "skin") that is the outermost layer of the shell of many shelled animals, including molluscs and brachiopods. Among molluscs, it is primarily seen in snails and clams, i.e. in gastropods an ...

. There is no differentiated

siphonal canal The siphonal canal is an anatomical feature of the shells of certain groups of sea snails within the clade Neogastropoda. Some sea marine gastropods have a soft tubular anterior extension of the mantle called a siphon through which water i ...

anal sulcus The anal sulcus, also called the anal sinus or anal canal, in Gastropods is a notch, a shelly tube at the top of the Aperture (mollusc), aperture. It is the first notch close to the Suture (anatomy), suture. It houses the anal siphon through which t ...

or fasciole. The shell is axially ribbed. The

columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (, Arabic: ) was a prominent Roman writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture and ancient Roman cuisin ...

is thin and twisted. The axis is impervious. The outer

lip The lips are a horizontal pair of soft appendages attached to the jaws and are the most visible part of the mouth of many animals, including humans. Mammal lips are soft, movable and serve to facilitate the ingestion of food (e.g. sucklin ...

is simple, arcuate, thin, not internally lirate. The operculum is like that of ''

Fusinus ''Fusinus'' is a genus of small to large sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Fasciolariidae, the spindle snails and tulip snails. Fossil records This genus is known in the fossil records from the Cretaceous to the Quaternar ...

'', but arcuate. The animal is blind, without

radula The radula (; : radulae or radulas) is an anatomical structure used by mollusks for feeding, sometimes compared to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food enters ...

or poison gland. Type species: ''Calliotectum vernicosum'' Dall, 1890.

Distribution

Species of the genus are found off Taiwan, in the East China Sea, Vanuatu, Indonesia, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia, Philippines, Eastern Pacific, Galapagos Islands, Lubang Island, Wallis and Futuna, Kermadec Islands, Chesterfield Isles, East China Sea, Indonesia, in the Arafura Sea, and off the northern and western coasts of Australia.

Species

Species within the genus ''Calliotectum'' include: * '' Calliotectum dalli'' (Bartsch, 1942) * '' Calliotectum egregium'' Bouchet & Poppe, 1995 * '' Calliotectum mirabile'' (Clench & Aguayo, 1941) * '' Calliotectum piersonorum'' Bouchet & Poppe, 1995 * '' Calliotectum smithi'' (Bartsch, 1942) * '' Calliotectum tibiaeforme'' (Kuroda, 1931) * '' Calliotectum vernicosum'' Dall, 1890

References

* Bail P. & Poppe G.T. 2001. ''A conchological iconography: a taxonomic introduction of the recent Volutidae.'' ConchBooks, Hackenheim. 30 pp, 5 pl.

External links

Finlay H.J. (1926). ''A further commentary on New Zealand molluscan systematics.'' Transactions of the New Zealand Institute. 57: 320-485, pls 18-23
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5022566 Volutidae Taxa named by William Healey Dall Taxa described in 1890