''Kelletia'' 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 ...

of large

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, whelks, a 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 ...

mollusc Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

s in the whelk

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 ...

Austrosiphonidae The Austrosiphonidae are a taxonomic family of large sea snails, often known as whelks.MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Austrosiphonidae Cotton & Godfrey, 1938. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecie ...

.Bouchet, P.; Fraussen, K. (2015). Kelletia Bayle in P. Fischer, 1884. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=490535 on 2016-07-07

Distribution

One extant species '' Kelletia lischkei'' occurs in the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

off the coasts of Japan and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, and another '' K. kelletii'' is found of along the coasts of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States and in the

Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...

, Mexico. Fossil species are documented in Japan,Ogasawara, K. 2002. Cenozoic Gastropoda. In: Ikeya, N., Hirano, H., Ogasawara, K. eds. The database of Japanese fossil type specimens described during the 20th Century (Part 2). Palaeontological Society of Japan, Special Paper 40. University of Tokyo, Tokyo. California,Hertlein, L.G. 1970. A new species of fossil ''Kelletia'' (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from the Lomita Marl, Late Cenozoic of San Pedro, California. Contributions in Science 190, 1 - 8.Arnold, R. 1910. Paleontology of the Coalinga District, Fresno and Kings counties, California. United States Geological Survey Bulletin 396Addicott, W.O. 1970. Miocene gastropods and biostratigraphy of the Kern River Area, California. Geological Survey Professional Paper 642. United States Printing Office, WashingtonAnderson, F.M., Martin, B. 1914. Neocene Record in the Temblor Basin, California, and Neocene deposits of San Juan distinct, San Luis Obispo County. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 4, 15 - 122.Kanakoff, G.P.. 1954. A new ''Kelletia'' from the Pliocene of California. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 52, 114 - 117. and

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

.Olsson, A.A., 1964. Neogene mollusks from northwestern Ecuador. Palaeontological Research Institution, Ithaca, New York, USA, 256.

Evolution

A molecular

phylogeny A phylogenetic tree or phylogeny is a graphical representation which shows the evolutionary history between a set of species or Taxon, taxa during a specific time.Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, M ...

Buccinidae The Buccinidae are a very large and diverse taxonomic family of large sea snails, often known as whelks or true whelks.Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2010). Buccinidae. In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. (2010) World Marine Mollusca database. Ac ...

based on the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene suggested that ''Kelletia'' is a closely related to ''

Penion ''Penion'' is a genus of large marine (ocean), marine snails, commonly known as siphon whelks, classified within the mollusc family (biology), family Austrosiphonidae.MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Penion P. Fischer, 1884. Accessed throu ...

'', a whelk genus with extant species distributed in waters off of New Zealand and Australia. Results of a further molecular phylogenetic studies using mitochondrial genomic and nuclear

ribosomal DNA The ribosomal DNA (rDNA) consists of a group of ribosomal RNA encoding genes and related regulatory elements, and is widespread in similar configuration in all domains of life. The ribosomal DNA encodes the non-coding ribosomal RNA, integral struc ...

sequence data re-affirmed this relationship, and also demonstrated that ''Kelletia'' and ''

Antarctoneptunea ''Antarctoneptunea'' is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the whelk family Austrosiphonidae. Distribution ''Antarctoneptunea'' marine snails occur in deep water surrounding New Zealand and in Southern Ocean encircling Antarcti ...

'' found in the southern Pacific and Southern oceans are closely related. The common ancestor of the three genera most likely evolved in the southern Pacific Ocean, and a lineage leading to ''Kelletia'' dispersed over millions of years up the western coast of the Americas into the northern Pacific Ocean. Radulae and opercula morphology is similar between ''Penion'' and ''Kelletia''.

Species

Extant Species

Fossils

† A dagger, obelisk, or obelus is a typographical mark that usually indicates a footnote if an asterisk has already been used. The symbol is also used to indicate death (of people) or extinction (of species or languages). It is one of the mo ...

'' Kelletia brevis'' (Ozaki, 1954) *

'' Kelletia ecuadoriana'' (Olsson, 1964) *

'' Kelletia kanakoffi'' (Hertlein, 1970) *

'' Kelletia kettlemanensis'' (Arnold, 1910) *

'' Kelletia lorata'' (Addicott, 1970) *

'' Kelletia posoensis'' (Anderson & Martin, 1914) *

'' Kelletia rugosa'' (Olsson, 1964) *

'' Kelletia vladimiri'' (Kanakoff, 1954)

References

External links

World Register of Marine Species: ''Kelletia'' Bayle in P. Fischer, 1884

Fossilworks Database ''Kelletia'' Fischer 1884 (true whelk)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q6385701 Austrosiphonidae