''Clionella'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of sea snails, marine gastropod

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is es ...

s in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Clavatulidae.

Description

The shell of the species in this genus is narrowly bucciniform and turriculated. The

protoconch A protoconch (meaning first or earliest or original shell) is an embryonic or larval shell which occurs in some classes of molluscs, e.g., the initial chamber of an ammonite or the larval shell of a gastropod. In older texts it is also calle ...

is somewhat conical, containing 2 whorls. The whorls are somewhat flattened, longitudinally ribbed with long, flexuous ribs, and have a thick epidermis. The ribs lack subsutural or peripheral processes. 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. Spires are ...

of the shell is elevated. The body whorl is truncated. The

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 ...

is scarcely indicated at the broad base of the

aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An ...

. The anal sinus is very shallow. The lip has a small infrasutural anal sinus with no distinct parietal tubercle. The operculum has a lateral nucleus. The

foot The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg mad ...

is short, broad, and rounded behind. The eyes are located near the tip of the tentacles.

Radula The radula (, ; plural radulae or radulas) is an anatomical structure used by molluscs 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 ...

formula (1-1-1),

Distribution

This marine genus mainly occurs off

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

Species

Species within the genus ''Clionella'' include: * ''

Clionella aglaophanes ''Clionella aglaophanes'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Clavatulidae. Description The shell grows to a length of 7.6 mm. (Original description) The shell is high, narrow, conically cylindrical, with a ...

'' (Watson, 1882) * ''

Clionella bornii ''Clionella bornii'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Clavatulidae. Description The size of an adult shell varies between 25 mm and 40 mm. (Freely translated from the original Latin description) The ...

'' (E.A. Smith, 1877) * ''

Clionella confusa ''Clionella confusa'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Clavatulidae. Description The shell grows to a length of 40 mm. (Original description) The elongate shell has a uniform bright red or yellowish colo ...

'' Smith E. A., 1906 * ''

Clionella costata ''Clionella costata'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Clavatulidae. Description (Original description) The shell has a fusiform shape and is longitudinally ribbed. There is a deep sinus at the top of the oute ...

'' (Swainson, 1840) * ''

Clionella halistrepta ''Clionella halistrepta'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Clavatulidae. Description The size of the shell varies between 25 mm and 42 mm. (Original description) The shell has a fusiform shape. The ...

'' (Bartsch, 1915) * ''

Clionella kraussii ''Clionella kraussii'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Clavatulidae. This species was named after Ferdinand Krauss (1812–1890), author oKrauss (1848), Die südafrikanischen Mollusken, ein Beitrag zur Kennt ...

'' (E.A. Smith, 1877) * '' Clionella liltvedi'' Kilburn, 1985 * ''

Clionella lobatopsis ''Clionella lobatopsis'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Clavatulidae. ''Clavatula lobatopsis'' Barnard, 1963, was transferred to ''Gemmula (Ptychosyrinx)'' in the Turrinae Turrinae is a former subfamily ...

'' (Barnard, 1963) * ''

Clionella rosaria ''Clionella rosaria'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Clavatulidae. The forma ''Clionella rosaria'' f. ''kowiensis'' (Turton, 1932) is accepted as ''Clionella rosaria'' (Reeve, 1846) Description The size of ...

'' (Reeve, 1846) * ''

Clionella semicostata ''Clionella semicostata'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Clavatulidae. Description The size of an adult shell varies between 15 mm and 32 mm. The whorls are with shallow channel above. The shoulder ...

'' (Kiener, 1840) * '' Clionella sinuata'' (Born, 1778) * ''

Clionella striolata ''Clionella striolata'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Clavatulidae. Description The size of an adult shell varies between 14 mm and 22 mm. The squat, bucciniform shell has convex whorls and a rat ...

'' Turton, 1932 * ''

Clionella subcontracta ''Clionella subcontracta'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Clavatulidae. Description The size of an adult shell varies between 8 mm and 1 mm. The dark yellowish-brown shell is elongate but has a na ...

'' (E.A. Smith, 1904) * '' Clionella subventricosa'' (E.A. Smith, 1877) * ''

Clionella vilma ''Clionella vilma'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Clavatulidae. Description The length of the shell attains 28 mm. The narrow shell has a high spire with evenly convex whorls and a small aperture with ...

'' (Thiele, 1925) ;Species brought into synonymy: * ''Clionella amblia'' R.B. Watson, 1882: synonym of ''

Inodrillia nucleata ''Inodrillia nucleata'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Horaiclavidae. It was previously included within the family Turridae. Description The length of the shell attains 13.5 mm, its diameter 5 ...

'' (Dall, 1881) * ''Clionella assimilans'' Turton, 1932; synonym of ''

Clavatula tripartita ''Clavatula tripartita'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family (biology), family Clavatulidae. Description The size of an adult shell varies between 26 mm and 45 mm. Distribution This marine species occ ...

'' (Weinkauff, 1876) * ''Clionella bipartita'' E.A. Smith, 1877: synonym of ''

'' (Weinkauff, H.C. & W. Kobelt, 1876) * ''Clionella conspicienda'' Locard, 1897: synonym of ''

Belomitra quadruplex ''Belomitra quadruplex'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Belomitridae, the whelks. Description The shell size varies between 10 mm and 41 mm Distribution This species is distributed in European wa ...

'' (Watson, 1882) * ''Clionella delicatulina'' Locard, 1897: synonym of ''

'' (Watson, 1882) * ''Clionella elizabethae'' Bartsch, P., 1915: synonym of ''

Nquma rousi ''Nquma rousi'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Horaiclavidae. Description The length of the shell attains 17 mm. The shell is broadly fusiform. The posterior two-fifths of the whorls between the sut ...

'' (Sowerby III, 1886) * ''Clionella gravis'' (Hinds, 1843): synonym of ''

Makiyamaia gravis ''Makiyamaia gravis'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Clavatulidae Clavatulidae is a taxonomic family of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea. The family is not well diffe ...

'' (Hinds, 1843) * ''Clionella kowiensis'' Turton, 1932: synonym of ''

'' (Reeve, 1846) * ''Clionella kowiensis viridis'' Turton, 1932: synonym of ''Clionella kowiensis'' Turton, 1932, synonym of ''

'' (Reeve, 1846) * ''Clionella krausii'' (E. A. Smith, 1877): synonym of ''

'' (E.A. Smith, 1877) * ''Clionella nereia'' Bartsch, 1915: synonym of ''

'' (Reeve, 1846) * ''Clionella proxima'' Turton, 1932: synonym of ''

'' (Reeve, 1846) * ''Clionella quadruplex'' (Watson, 1882) : synonym of ''

'' (Watson, 1882) * ''Clionella sinuatum'' (Born, 1778): synonym of '' Clionella sinuata'' (Born, 1778) * ''Clionella sybaritica'' Bartsch, 1915: synonym of ''

'' (Reeve, 1846) * ''Clionella taxea'' (Röding, 1798): synonym of ''

Clavatula taxea ''Clavatula taxea'', common name the yew turrid, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Clavatulidae. Description The size of an adult shell varies between 50 mm and 75 mm. The color of the shell is yello ...

'' (Röding, 1798) * ''Clionella tripartita'' (Weinkauff & Kobelt, 1876): synonym of ''

'' (Weinkauff, 1876)

References

* Swainson, Treatise Malacology, 1840, pp. 202, 342, text fig. 104 * Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1847, p. 153

External links

K.H. Barnard, ''Contribution to the knowledge of South African marine Mollusca. Part 1. Gastropoda; Prosobranchiata: Toxoglossa''; Annals of The South African Museum, vol. 44 p. 73 -163
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3718913