The Cerithioidea is a superfamily of marine, brackish water and freshwater

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 ...

containing more than 200 genera. The Cerithioidea are included unassigned in the subclass

Caenogastropoda Caenogastropoda is a taxonomic subclass of molluscs in the class Gastropoda. It is a large diverse group which are mostly sea snails and other marine gastropod mollusks, but also includes some freshwater snails and some land snails. The subcla ...

. The original name of this superfamily was Cerithiacea, in keeping with common superfamily endings at the time.

Ecology

Cerithioidea is a very diverse superfamily. Its species can be found worldwide mainly in tropic and

subtropic The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones immediately to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 3 ...

seas on rocky

intertidal The intertidal zone or foreshore is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide; in other words, it is the part of the littoral zone within the tidal range. This area can include several types of habitats with various sp ...

shores,

seagrass Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine (ocean), marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four Family (biology), families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and ...

beds and algal fronds, but also in

estuarine An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

and

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...

habitats. The freshwater species are found on all continents, except

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

. They are dominant members of

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

forests, estuarine

mudflat Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal ...

s, fast-flowing rivers and placid lakes.Healy J. M. & Wells F. E. (). ''Mollusca, The Southern Syntthesis. Fauna of Australia.'' Melbourne, CSIRO publishing. 707 pp.

Fossil record

Their

fossil record A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

of this superfamily can be traced back as far as the early

Triassic The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...

Tracey S., Todd J. A. & Erwin D. H. (1993). ''The Fossil Record.'' London, Chapman & Hall. pages 131–167. but they began radiating mainly during the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

.Houbrick R. S. (1988). "Prosobranch Phylogeny". '' Malacological Review'', Supplement 4: 88–128.

Taxonomy

The Cerithioidea are presumed to be

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

(one lineage). However the

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

relationships between its families are still under investigation because

mitochondrial A mitochondrion () is an organelle found in the cells of most eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is used ...

recombinant DNA Recombinant DNA (rDNA) molecules are DNA molecules formed by laboratory methods of genetic recombination (such as molecular cloning) that bring together genetic material from multiple sources, creating sequences that would not otherwise be fo ...

sequences failed to resolve these questions.

2005 taxonomy

According to the

Taxonomy of the Gastropoda (Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005) The taxonomy of the Gastropoda as it was revised in 2005 by Philippe Bouchet and Jean-Pierre Rocroi is a system for the scientific classification of gastropod mollusks (Gastropods are a taxonomic class of animals which consists of snails and sl ...

, the following families are included in Cerithioidea: * '' Amphimelaniidae'' P. Fischer & Crosse, 1891 *

Batillariidae Batillariidae, common name batillariids or mudcreepers, are a family (biology), family of marine (ocean), marine, cerithioidean gastropod molluscs in thesuperfamily Cerithioidea. They consist of 14 living species, classified in six to eight gene ...

Thiele, 1929 -

* † Brachytrematidae Cossmann, 1906 * † Cassiopidae Beurlen, 1967 *

Cerithiidae Cerithiidae, common name the cerithiids or ceriths, is a large taxonomic family, family of medium-sized marine (ocean), marine gastropods in the clade Sorbeoconcha. Distribution Ceriths are found worldwide on sandy bottoms, reef flats or co ...

Fleming, 1822 - monophyletic * Dialidae Kay, 1979 * Diastomatidae Cossman, 1894 * † Eustomatidae Cossmann, 1906 * † Ladinulidae Bandel, 1992 * † Lanascalidae Bandel, 1992 *

Litiopidae Litiopidae, common name litiopids, is a family of small sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Sorbeoconcha. According to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi (2005) the family Litiopidae has no subfamilies. Genera ...

Gray, 1847 * †

Maoraxidae Maoraxidae is an extinct family of snails, gastropod molluscs in the clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its d ...

Bandel, Gründel, Maxwell, 2000 *

Melanopsidae Melanopsidae, common name melanopsids, is a family of freshwater gastropods in the clade Sorbeoconcha. Species in this family are native to southern and eastern Europe, northern Africa, parts of the Middle East, New Zealand, and freshwater stre ...

H. Adams & A. Adams, 1854 - freshwater snails,

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

Modulidae Modulidae, common name modulids, is a family (biology), family of small sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod molluscs in the Taxonomic rank, superfamily Cerithioidea. According to the Taxonomy of the Gastropoda (Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005), ...

P. Fischer, 1884 * Pachychilidae P. Fischer & Crosse, 1892 *

Paludomidae Paludomidae, common name paludomids, is a family of freshwater snails, gastropod molluscs in the clade Sorbeoconcha. Distribution The distribution of the Paludomidae includes Asia and Africa. Taxonomy The following three subfamilies have b ...

Stoliczka, 1868 * Pelycidiidae Ponder & Hall, 1983 * Pickworthiidae Iredale, 1917 * Planaxidae Gray, 1850 * Pleuroceridae P. Fischer, 1885 (1863) - freshwater snails, polyphyletic * † Popenellidae Bandel, 1992 * Potamididae H. Adams & A. Adams, 1854 - monophyletic * † Procerithiidae Cossmann, 1906 - If the genus '' Argyropeza'' is placed in the Procerithiidae, then this family is no longer exclusively a family of fossils. * † Propupaspiridae Nützel, Pan & Erwin, 2002 * † Prostyliferidae Bandel, 1992 * Scaliolidae Jousseaume, 1912 - monophyletic * Semisulcospiridae J. P. E. Morrison, 1952 *

Siliquariidae ''Siliquariidae'' is a family (biology), family of sea snails with unusual, very loosely coiled shells. These are marine (ocean), marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily (taxonomy), superfamily Cerithioidea. Taxonomy The following two sub ...

Anton, 1838 * Thiaridae Gill, 1871 (1823) - freshwater snails, polyphyletic *

Turritellidae Turritellidae, with the common name "tower shells" or "tower snails", is a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic family (biology), family of small- to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the Sorbeoconcha clade. They are filter feeders; ...

Lovén, 1847 - monophyletic * Zemelanopsidae Neiber & Glaubrecht, 2019 (Extinct taxa indicated by a

dagger A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually one or two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a cutting or stabbing, thrusting weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or ...

, †.) It is possible that a further detailed examination may show that the polyphyletic families

and Pleuroceridae are one family. There is also a close phylogenetic relationship between the families

and Potamididae and between the families

and

2006 taxonomy

Bandel (2006)Bandel K. (2006). "Families of the Cerithioidea and related superfamilies (Palaeo-Caenogastropoda; Mollusca) from the Triassic to the Recent characterized by protoconch morphology - including the description of new taxa". ''

Freiberger Forschungshefte The Freiberger or Franches-Montagnes is a Swiss List of horse breeds, breed of horse of draught horse, light draught type. It originates in the cantons of Switzerland, Canton of Canton of Jura, Jura in north-western Switzerland, and is named for ...

'' C 511: 59–138
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made numerous changes in Cerithioidea. He classified superfamily Cerithioidea in the clade Cerithimorpha. Changes include: superfamily Cerithioidea * family Bittiidae Cossmann, 1906 - consider Bittiidae in its own family level. It was as subfamily Bittiinae within Cerithiidae by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005. * family † Maturifusidae - moved to Cerithioidea from Hypsogastropoda * family † Canterburyellidae - moved to Cerithioidea from unallocated Sorbeoconcha * family † Prisciphoridae - moved to Cerithioidea from unallocated Sorbeoconcha * family † Zardinellopsidae Bandel, 2006 - new family * family Pachymelaniidae - considered as valid family. It was as synonym of Thiaridae. * some Pyrguliferidae members (a synonym) are in Paludomidae and some are in Paramelaniidae (instead of Thiaridae) * family Paramelaniidae at family level (instead of a synonym of Paludomidae) * and some moves to other taxa

2009 taxonomy

* Subfamily Semisulcospirinae within Pleuroceridae was elevated to family level under the name Semisulcospiridae by Strong & Köhler (2009).

2017 Taxonomy

In the updated taxonomy by Bouchet et al. (2017)are listed below: *

* † Brachytrematidae *

* Dialidae * Diastomatidae * † Eustomatidae * Hemisinidae P. Fischer & Crosse, 1891 * † Ladinulidae *

* †

Metacerithiidae Metacerithiidae is an extinct family of fossil sea snails, marine gastropod mollusc Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon ...

* Pachychilidae *

* Pelycidiidae * Pickworthiidae * Planaxidae * Pleuroceridae * † Popenellidae * Potamididae * † Procerithiidae * † Propupaspiridae * † Prostyliferidae * Scaliolidae * Semisulcospiridae *

* Thiaridae *

Unassigned: * '' Microstilifer'' Warén, 1980 The following two extinct families were moved out: * Lanascalidae † *

†

References

External links

* 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, 11 pp. . * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1055279 Sorbeoconcha