Conoidea is a superfamily of

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 within the suborder

Hypsogastropoda Hypsogastropoda is a clade containing marine gastropods within the clade Caenogastropoda.MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Hypsogastropoda. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=tax ...

. This superfamily is a very large group of marine mollusks, estimated at 340 recent valid genera and subgenera, and considered by one authority to contain 4,000 named living species. This superfamily includes the turrids, the terebras (also known as auger snails or auger shells) and the

cones In geometry, a cone is a three-dimensional figure that tapers smoothly from a flat base (typically a circle) to a point not contained in the base, called the ''apex'' or '' vertex''. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, ...

or cone snails. The phylogenetic relationships within this superfamily are poorly established. Several families (especially the

Turridae Turridae is a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic family (biology), family name for a number of predatory sea snails, Marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea.MolluscaBase (2018). Turridae H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853 (1838). ...

), subfamilies and genera are thought to be

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 ...

. In contrast to Puillandre's estimate, Bandyopadhyay et al. (2008) estimated that the superfamily Conoidea contains about 10,000 species. Tucker (2004) even speaks of 11,350 species in the group of taxa commonly referred to as turrids.Tucker, J.K. 2004 ''Catalog of recent and fossil turrids (Mollusca: Gastropoda).'' Zootaxa 682:1–1295. 3000 recent taxa are potentially valid species. Little more than half of the known taxa are fossil species. Many species are little known and need more investigation to find their exact systematic place. Most species in this superfamily are small to medium, with shell lengths between 3 mm and 50 mm. They occur in diverse marine habitats from tropical waters to the poles, in shallow or deep waters, and on hard to soft substrates. The superfamily is known for its toxoglossan

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 ...

, which is used to inject powerful

neurotoxin Neurotoxins are toxins that are destructive to nervous tissue, nerve tissue (causing neurotoxicity). Neurotoxins are an extensive class of exogenous chemical neurological insult (medical), insultsSpencer 2000 that can adversely affect function ...

s into its prey. This makes these species powerful carnivorous predators on annelid, other mollusc and even fish. Within the superfamily there are four somewhat different varieties of radula. The radula types are as follows: * Type 1 Drilliidae type: five teeth in each row with comb-like lateral teeth and flat-pointed marginal teeth * Type 2 Turridae s.l. type: two or three teeth in a row with the marginal teeth being of the duplex or wishbone form * Type 3 Pseudomelatomidae type: two or three teeth in a row with curved and solid marginal teeth * Type 4 hypodermic type: two hollow, enrolled, marginal teeth in each row with an absent or reduced radular membrane In 2009, a proposed new classification of this superfamily was published by John K. Tucker and Manuel J. Tenorio. In 2011, a new classification of this superfamily was published by Bouchet et al. Both classifications were based upon

cladistic Cladistics ( ; from Ancient Greek 'branch') is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is ...

al analyses and included modern taxonomic

molecular phylogeny Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

studies.

Families

1993 taxonomy

;Families and subfamilies included within the superfamily Conoidea according to Taylor, ''et al.'' 1993 *

Clavatulidae Clavatulidae is a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic family (biology), family of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea. The family is not well differentiated morphologically. Clavatulidae was raised, based on cladistic an ...

Clay, 1853 * Conidae Fleming, 1822 ** Coninae – cone snails ** Clathurellinae ** Conorbiinae ** Mangeliinae ** Oenopotinae **

Raphitominae Raphitominae was a Family (biology), subfamily of small to quite large sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea. Philippe Bouchet, Bouchet, Kantor ''et al''. elevated in 2011 the subfamily Raphitominae (wh ...

* Drilliidae Olsson, 1964 *

Pseudomelatomidae Pseudomelatomidae is a family (biology), family of predatory sea snails, marine gastropods included in the superfamily Conoidea (previously Conacea) and part of the Neogastropoda (Taxonomy of the Gastropoda (Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005), Bouchet & Ro ...

Morrison, 1964 *

Strictispiridae Strictispiridae is a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic family (biology), family of small predatory sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea, the cone snails and their allies.MolluscaBase (2018). Strictispirida ...

McLean, 1971 *

Terebridae The Terebridae, commonly referred to as auger shells or auger snails, is a Family (biology), family of predatory marine (ocean), marine gastropods in the superfamily Conoidea.Gofas, S. (2012). Terebridae. World Register of Marine Specie2012-10-12 ...

Mörch, 1852 – auger shells *

H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853 (1838) – turrids This same classification was accepted by Bouchet & Rocroi in 2005.

2009 taxonomy

In 2009 John K. Tucker and Manuel J. Tenorio proposed a classification system for the cone shells and their allies (which resorb their inner walls during growth) based upon a

al analysis of anatomical characters including the radular tooth, the

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

(i.e. shell characters), as well as an analysis of prior

studies, all of which were used to construct phylogenetic trees.Tucker J.K. & Tenorio M.J. (2009) Systematic classification of Recent and fossil conoidean gastropods. Hackenheim: Conchbooks. 296 pp., at p. 133 In their phylogeny, Tucker and Tenorio noted the close relationship of the cone species within the various clades, corresponding to their proposed families and genera; this also corresponded to the results of prior molecular studies by Puillandre ''et al.'' and others.P.K. Bandyopadhyay, B.J. Stevenson, J.P. Ownby, M.T. Cady, M. Watkins, & B. Olivera (2008), ''The mitochondrial genome of Conus textile, coxI-conII intergenic sequences and conoidean evolution.'' Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 46: 215-223.S.T. Williams & T.F. Duda, Jr. (2008), ''Did tectonic activity stimulate Oligo-Miocene speciation in the Indo-West Pacific?'' Evolution 62:1618-1634.R.L. Cunha, R. Castilho, L. Ruber, & R. Zardoya (2005), ''Patterns of cladogenesis in the venomous marine gastropod genus Conus from the Cape Verde Islands'' Systematic Biology 54(4):634-650.T.F. Duda, Jr. & A.J. Kohn (2005), ''Species-level phylogeography and evolutionary history of the hyperdiverse marine gastropod genus Conus'', Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 34:257-272.T.F. Duda, Jr. & E. Rolan (2005), ''Explosive radiation of Cape Verde Conus, a marine species flock'', Molecular Ecology 14:267-272.B. Vallejo, Jr. (2005), ''Inferring the mode of speciation in the Indo-West Pacific Conus (Gastropoda: Conidae)'', Journal of Biogeography 32:1429-1439.N. Puillandre, S. Samadi, M. Boesselier, A. Sysoev, Y. Kantor, C. Cruaud, A. Couloux, & P. Bouchett (2008), ''Starting to unravel the toxoglossan knot: molecular phylogeny of the "turrid" (Neogastropoda: Conoidea),'' Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 47:1122-1134. This 2009 proposed classification system also outlined the taxonomy for the other clades of Conoidean gastropods (that do ''not'' resorb their inner walls), also based upon morphological, anatomical, and molecular studies, and removes the turrid snails (which are a distinct large and diverse group) from the cone snails and creates a number of new families. For Tucker and Tenorio's classification system for the cone shells and their allies (and the other clades of Conoidean gastropods) see Tucker & Tenorio cone snail taxonomy 2009.

2011 taxonomy

The original classification, Taylor ''et al.'' 1993 (and Bouchet & Rocroi in 2005) was thoroughly changed by the publication in 2011 of the article. The authors presented a new classification of the Conoidea on the genus level, based on anatomical characters but also on the

as presented by Puillandre N., et al., 2008. They recognize fifteen families: Conidae,

, and the

family

resolved into 13

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 ...

families (containing 358 currently recognized genera and subgenera). The authors follow tentatively the classification for the family Conidae as presented by Tucker & Tenorio, 2009 who divided the monogeneric family Conidae into 82 genera. However, there is no final opinion on this issue yet, as a new molecular phylogeny of the Conidae is in preparation. There are a number of genera within the Conoidea that could not be assigned to any family. In 2012, a new lineage in the Conoidea was revealed, leading to the creation of a new family Bouchetispiridae Kantor, Strong & Puillandre, 2012 that includes one genus '' Bouchetispira'' Kantor, Strong & Puillandre, 2012 and one species '' Bouchetispira vitrea'' Kantor, Strong & Puillandre, 2012, which was found on an isolated sea mount off

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

. This is probably the sole survivor of a larger

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 descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

. Recognized families in the Conoidea (as of 2020): *

Borsoniidae Borsoniidae is a monophyletic family of small to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea.Bouchet, P. (2011). Borsoniidae. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/ ...

Bellardi, 1875 * Bouchetispiridae Kantor, Strong & Puillandre, 2012 *

Clathurellidae Clathurellidae is a monophyletic family of small to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea.Bouchet P., Kantor Yu.I., Sysoev A. & Puillandre N. (2011). "A new operational classification of the Conoidea". ' ...

H. Adams & A. Adams, 1858 *

Gray, 1853 * Cochlespiridae Powell, 1942 * Conidae Fleming, 1822 * Conorbidae de Gregorio, 1880 * † Cryptoconidae Cossmann, 1896 * Drilliidae Olsson, 1964 * Fusiturridae Abdelkrim, Aznar-Cormano, Fedosov, Kantor, Lozouet, Phuong, Zaharias & Puillandre, 2018 * Horaiclavidae Bouchet, Kantor, Sysoev & Puillandre, 2011 * Mangeliidae P. Fischer, 1883 * Marshallenidae Abdelkrim, Aznar-Cormano, Fedosov, Kantor, Lozouet, Phuong, Zaharias & Puillandre, 2018 *

Mitromorphidae Mitromorphidae is a monophyletic family of small to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea Conoidea is a Taxonomic rank, superfamily of predatory sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod Mollusc, mo ...

Casey, 1904 *

Morrison, 1966 *

Raphitomidae Raphitomidae is a Family (biology), family of small to medium-sized sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea.Bouchet P. & Rocroi J.-P. (Ed.) (2005). "Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families" ...

Bellardi, 1875 *

McLean, 1971 *

Mörch, 1852 *

H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853 (1838) ; Conoidea (unassigned) Genera not assigned to a family: * †'' Amuletum'' Stephenson, 1941 * †'' Austroclavus'' Powell, 1942 * †'' Austrotoma'' Finlay, 1924 * '' Bathyferula'' Stahlschmidt, Lamy & Fraussen, 2012 * †'' Campylacrum'' Finlay & Marwick, 1937 * †'' Clinuropsis'' Vincent, 1913 * †'' Cosmasyrinx'' Marwick, 1931 * '' Cryptomella'' Finlay, 1924 * '' Echinoturris'' Powell, 1935 * '' Eoscobinella'' Powell, 1942 * †'' Eothesbia'' Finlay & Marwick, 1937 * †'' Eoturris'' Finlay & Marwick, 1937 * '' Hemipleurotoma'' Cossmannn, 1889 * †'' Insolentia'' Finlay, 1926 * '' Mangaoparia'' Vella, 1954 * '' Maoricrassus'' Vella, 1954 * †'' Marshallaria'' Finlay & Marwick, 1937 * †'' Moniliopsis'' Cossmann, 1918 * '' Notogenota'' Powell, 1942 * †'' Orthosurcula'' Casey, 1904 * '' Parasyngenochilus'' Long, 1981 * †'' Parasyrinx'' Finlay, 1924 * '' Pleurotomoides'' Bronn, 1831 * †'' Pseudoinquisitor'' Powell, 1942 * †'' Rugobela'' Finlay, 1924 * '' Sinistrella'' Meyer, 1887 * '' Tahudrillia'' Powell, 1942 * †'' Tahuia'' Maxwell, 1992 * †'' Turrinosyrinx'' Hickman, 1976 * '' Veruturris'' Powell, 1944 * †'' Zeatoma'' Maxwell, 1992 ;Families and subfamilies brought into synonymy * Acusidae Gray, 1853: synonym of

Mörch, 1852 * Clavidae Casey, 1904: synonym of Drilliidae Olsson, 1964 * Clionellidae Stimpson, 1865: synonym of

Gray, 1853 * Conilithidae Tucker & Tenorio, 2009: synonym of Conidae Fleming, 1822 * Crassispirinae McLean, 1971: synonym of

Morrison, 1966 * Cytharinae Thiele, 1929: synonym of Mangeliidae P. Fischer, 1883 * Daphnellinae Casey, 1904: synonym of

Bellardi, 1875 * Diptychomitrinae L. Bellardi, 1888: synonym of

Casey, 1904 * Melatomidae Gill, 1871: synonym of

Gray, 1853 * Mitrolumnidae Sacco, 1904: synonym of

Casey, 1904 * Oenopotinae Bogdanov, 1987: synonym of Mangeliidae P. Fischer, 1883 * Pervicaciidae Rudman, 1969: synonym of

Mörch, 1852 * Pleurotomellinae F. Nordsieck, 1968: synonym of

Bellardi, 1875 * Pleurotomidae: synonym of

H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853 (1838) * Pseudotominae Bellardi, 1875: synonym of

Bellardi, 1875 * Pusionellinae Gray, 1853: synonym of

Gray, 1853 * Taraninae Casey, 1904: synonym of

Bellardi, 1875 * Taranteconidae Tucker & Tenorio, 2009: synonym of Conidae Fleming, 1822 * Thatcheriidae Powell, 1942: synonym of

Bellardi, 1875 * Turriculinae Powell, 1942: synonym of

Gray, 1853 * Zemaciinae Sysoev, 2003: synonym of

Bellardi, 1875 * Zonulispirinae McLean, 1971: synonym of

Morrison, 1966 ;Genera (not assigned to a family) brought into synonymy * †''Acamptogenotia'' Rovereto, 1899: synonym of †'' Pseudotoma'' Bellardi, 1875 * ''Defrancia'' Millet, 1826: synonym of '' Pleurotomoides'' Bronn, 1831 * ''Fusosurcula'' Is. Taki, 1951: synonym of †'' Orthosurcula'' Casey, 1904 * †''Lirasyrinx'' Powell, 1942: synonym of †'' Parasyrinx'' Finlay, 1924 * †''Tholitoma'' Finlay & Marwick, 1937: synonym of †''Cosmasyrinx'' (''Tholitoma'') Finlay & Marwick, 1937 represented as †'' Cosmasyrinx'' Marwick, 1931 * †''Waitara'' Marwick, 1931: synonym of '' Thatcheria'' Angas, 1877

References

;Secondary sources * * * * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conoidea Neogastropoda Gastropod superfamilies Marine gastropods