''Triumphis'' 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 ...

Pisaniidae The Pisaniidae are a taxonomic family of medium-sized 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 classifi ...

, with historically controversial affinities. MolluscaBase eds. (2025). MolluscaBase. Triumphis J. E. Gray, 1857. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=489176 on 2025-06-24 It is found in the tropical eastern Pacific.

Classification

''Triumphis'' was historically classified as a member of

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 ...

, but in 1998, Geerat J. Vermeij assigned it to

Pseudolividae Pseudolividae is a taxonomic family of medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Olivoidea.MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Pseudolividae de Gregorio, 1880. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at ...

, However, in 2017, Kantor and colleagues, in their revision of

Olivoidea Olivoidea is a taxonomic superfamily of minute to medium-large predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the order Neogastropoda.MolluscaBase (2018). Olivoidea Latreille, 1825. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: htt ...

, tentatively assigned ''Triumphis'' to

Nassariidae The Nassariidae, Nassa mud snails (US), or dog whelks (UK) are a taxonomic family of small to medium-sized snails, mostly marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Neogastropoda. These snails have rounded shells with a high spire, an oval ap ...

, and in 2024, a phylogenetic analysis by Fedosov and colleagues recovered ''Triumphis'' as a member of

Buccinoidea Buccinoidea is a taxonomic superfamily of very small to large predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks. This superfamily is in the clade Neogastropoda according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda (Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005). It had been p ...

, the sister taxon to ''

Pisania ''Pisania'' is a genus of marine whelk in the family Pisaniidae. Some species prey on barnacles. Species According to the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) species with accepted names within the genus ''Pisania'' include: * '' Pisania an ...

'', the only member of

included in their analysis. As of December 2024,

WoRMS The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...

recognizes ''Triumphis'' as a member of Pisaniidae; it had previously been included in Pseudolividae.

Characteristics

(original description) The shell is ovate, and it is covered with a thick, coarse, velvety periostracum that hides its true color. 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 conic, and the

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 convex. The outer whorls are larger and irregularly cover the rest of the shell. 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 ovate. The inner

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 smooth. 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 ...

is very short and recurved. The denticles number three; the central one is three-toothed; the lateral ones are large, hamate (hook-shaped), and three-toothed, with the outer tooth being the largest. The operculum is ovate and thick, with an apical nucleus.

Species

Species within the genus ''Triumphis'' include: * '' Triumphis distorta'' (Wood, 1828) * † '' Triumphis maitenlahuensis'' S. N. Nielsen & Frassinetti, 2003 * † '' Triumphis solida'' (E. T. Nelson, 1870) ;Species brought into synonymy: * ''Triumphis subrostrata'' (W. Wood, 1828): synonym of '' Nicema subrostrata'' (W. Wood, 1828)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q18596027 Pisaniidae