''Callipara'' 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 ...

Species

The following species are recognised in the genus ''Callipara'': * '' Callipara africana'' (Reeve, 1856) * '' Callipara aikeni'' Veldsman, 2012 * '' Callipara aphrodite'' (Bondarev, 1999) * '' Callipara bullatiana'' (Weaver & du Pont, 1967) * ''

Callipara casaana ''Callipara'' is a genus of sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusks in the family (biology), family Volutidae. Species The following species are recognised in the genus ''Callipara'': * ''Callipara africana'' (Reeve, 1856) * ''Call ...

'' Childs, R. Aiken & Bail, 2020 * '' Callipara duponti'' (Weaver, 1968) * '' Callipara festiva'' (Lamarck, 1811) * '' Callipara kurodai'' (Kawamura, 1964) * '' Callipara ponsonbyi'' (Smith, 1901) * '' Callipara queketti'' (Smith, 1901) * '' Callipara veldsmani'' Veldsman, 2012 * '' Callipara victoriae'' Childs, R. Aiken & Bail, 2020 * '' Callipara zululandensis'' Veldsman, 2012

Description

Some of the species of the genus ''Callipara'' have a

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 ...

with vestigial lateral teeth.

Teleoconch The gastropod shell is part of the body of many gastropods, including snails, a kind of mollusc. The shell is an exoskeleton, which protects from predators, mechanical damage, and dehydration, but also serves for muscle attachment and calcium ...

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 are shouldered and nodulose, with the three early whorls axially ribbed. They often have with a black blotch near 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 i ...

and the upper part of 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 ...

. All species have a shoulder, except in ''Callipara bullatian''a where the well-defined shoulder changes at a slight angle. The thin shell is oblong-ovate. 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 and obtuse, with the

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 ...

papillary. The

body whorl The body whorl is part of the morphology (biology), morphology of the gastropod shell, shell in those gastropod mollusks that possess a coiled shell. The term is also sometimes used in a similar way to describe the shell of a cephalopod mollusk ...

is large and ventricose. 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 two distinct folds in front. 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 ...

extends up towards the spire posteriorly.Adams, H. & Adams, A. (1853-1858). The genera of Recent Mollusca; arranged according to their organization. London, van Voorst. Vol. 1: xl + 484 pp.; vol. 2: 661 pp.; vol. 3: 138 pls
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Distribution

The snails of this genus are found in the Indian Ocean off

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

References

* Bail, P & Poppe, G. T. 2001. ''A conchological iconography: a taxonomic introduction of the recent Volutidae''. Hackenheim-Conchbook, 30 pp, 5 pl. (updated October 2008 for WoRMS)

External links

Gray, J. E. (1847). A list of the genera of recent Mollusca, their synonyma and types. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 15: 129-219
Volutidae Gastropod genera {{Volutidae-stub