''Cymbium'' 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 ...

Description

The oval-oblong shell is ventricose. 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 short, 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 called " ...

is large, globular, deciduous, when present forming an obtuse papillary

apex The apex is the highest point of something. The word may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional entities * Apex (comics) A-Bomb Abomination Absorbing Man Abraxas Abyss Abyss is the name of two characters appearing in Ameri ...

. The few

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 form a flat edge round the protoconch. 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 oblong and wide 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 ...

shows several oblique plaits. 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 thin and simple.

Distribution

All the species of this genus are restricted to

Western Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Ma ...

Species

Species within the genus ''Cymbium'' include: * '' Cymbium coenyei'' Nolf, 2017 * '' Cymbium cucumis'' Röding, 1798 * '' Cymbium cymbium'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * '' Cymbium fragile'' Fittkau & Stürmer, 1985 * '' Cymbium glans'' (Gmelin, 1791) * '' Cymbium gracile'' (Broderip, 1830) * '' Cymbium marmoratum'' Link, 1807 * '' Cymbium olla'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * '' Cymbium pachyus'' (Pallary, 1930) * '' Cymbium patulum'' (Broderip, 1830) * '' Cymbium pepo'' (Lightfoot, 1786) * '' Cymbium senegalense'' Marche-Marchad, 1978 * '' Cymbium souliei'' Marche-Marchad, 1974 * '' Cymbium tritonis'' (Broderip, 1830) ;Species brought into synonymy: * ''Cymbium aethiopicum'' (Linnaeus, 1758): synonym of '' Melo aethiopicus'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Cymbium caputvelatum'' Bruynseels, 1975: synonym of '' Cymbium tritonis'' (Broderip, 1830) * ''Cymbium cisium'' Menke, 1828: synonym of '' Cymbium cymbium'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Cymbium flammeum'' Röding, 1798: synonym of ''

Melo amphora ''Melo amphora'', common name the Diadem volute, is a very large sea snail, a marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusc in the family (biology), family Volutidae, the volutes. Etymology The specific name ''amphora'' is the Latin word for vase ...

'' (Lightfoot, 1786) * ''Cymbium guttatum'' Röding, 1798: synonym of '' Cymbium pepo'' (Lightfoot, 1786) * ''Cymbium indicum'' (Gmelin, 1790): synonym of '' Melo melo'' (Lightfoot, 1786) * ''Cymbium inflata'' Röding, 1798: synonym of '' Cymbium pepo'' (Lightfoot, 1786) * ''Cymbium jacobinum'' Röding, 1798: synonym of '' Cymbium cymbium'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Cymbium maculatum'' Röding, 1798: synonym of '' Melo melo'' (Lightfoot, 1786) * ''Cymbium melo'' (Lightfoot, 1786): synonym of '' Melo melo'' (Lightfoot, 1786) * ''Cymbium navicula'' Gmelin, 1791: synonym of '' Cymbium pepo'' (Lightfoot, 1786) * ''Cymbium neptuni'' Gmelin, 1791: synonym of '' Cymbium pepo'' (Lightfoot, 1786) * ''Cymbium papillaris'' Gmelin, 1791: synonym of '' Cymbium pepo'' (Lightfoot, 1786) * ''Cymbium papillatum'' Schumacher, 1817: synonym of '' Cymbium olla'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Cymbium philipinum'' Röding, 1798: synonym of '' Cymbium olla'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Cymbium praeputium'' Röding, 1798: synonym of '' Cymbium pepo'' (Lightfoot, 1786) * ''Cymbium productum'' R. T. Lowe, 1861: synonym of '' Cymbium olla'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Cymbium rubiginosum'' (R. T. Lowe, 1861): synonym of '' Cymbium cucumis'' Röding, 1798 * ''Cymbium rubiginosum'' (Swainson, 1822): synonym of '' Cymbium cucumis'' Röding, 1798 * ''Cymbium unicolor'' Link, 1807: synonym of '' Cymbium cymbium'' (Linnaeus, 1758)

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

Röding P.F. (1798). Museum Boltenianum sive Catalogus cimeliorum e tribus regnis naturæ quæ olim collegerat Joa. Fried Bolten, M. D. p. d. per XL. annos proto physicus Hamburgensis. Pars secunda continens Conchylia sive Testacea univalvia, bivalvia & multivalvia. Trapp, Hamburg. viii, 199 pp

Marche-Marchad I. & Rosso J.C. 1978. Les Cymbium du Sénégal. Notes Africaines, 178: 1-19
Volutidae Gastropod genera Taxa named by Peter Friedrich Röding {{Volutidae-stub