''Turbonilla'' is a large

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

ectoparasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson ha ...

sea snails,

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

gastropod molluscs in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Pyramidellidae Pyramidellidae, common name the pyram family, or pyramid shells, is a voluminous taxonomic family of mostly small and minute ectoparasitic sea snails, marine heterobranch gastropod molluscs. The great majority of species of pyrams are micr ...

, the pyrams and their allies.Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2011). ''Turbonilla'' Risso, 1826. Accessed through:

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

at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=138421 on 2011-11-10 This genus in its present state is not

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic ...

. Many species may end up reclassified in other genera. (personal communication by

Philippe Bouchet Philippe Bouchet (born 1953) is a French biologist whose primary scientific fields of study are malacology (the study of molluscs) and taxonomy. He works at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris. He is also a Commissioner of the ...

, chief editor of the Mollusca in WoRMS).

General description

The generally slender, bluish-white to milk-white, semitranslucent shell is more or less elongated and has a cylindro-conic shape. The

apex The apex is the highest point of something. The word may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional entities * Apex (comics), a teenaged super villainess in the Marvel Universe * Ape-X, a super-intelligent ape in the Squadron Supreme universe *Apex, ...

is sinistral. The reversed, flattened or projecting

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 calle ...

consists of 1½ to 3 whorls that are oblique or tilted from transverse to the axis. The

teleoconch The gastropod shell is part of the body of a gastropod or snail, 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 storage. So ...

contains many planulate or more or less convex

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). Whorls in nature File:Photograph and axial plane flo ...

s. These are sometimes shouldered and are generally ornamented with less prominent longitudinal ribs ( = costulate). The intercostal spaces are smooth or crossed bv more or less distinct, incised, sometimes raised, spiral lines. The spiral lines often also appear on the base of the shell, which varies from short, little rounded (the body whorl is subangulated at the periphery), to elongate and well-rounded. The shape of the

aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An ...

varies from subquadrate with a straight columellar lip, to an elongate-ovate shape, well-rounded and produced below, with a curved columellar lip. The peritreme is generally discontinuous, rarely continuous. The outer lip is always thin and entire. The inner lip is more or less thickened and reflected, often with a plication or fold that is not always visible externally. The

columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (; Arabic: , 4 – ) was a prominent writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His ' in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture, together with the ...

is vertical, not plicate. The columellar fold is single, varying in strength. The horny operculum is subspiral. The shell is usually smaller than in ''

Pyramidella ''Pyramidella'' is a genus of minute to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod mollusk in the subfamily Pyramidellinae of the family Pyramidellidae, the pyrams and their allies. ''Pyramidella'' is the type genus of the family Pyramidellida ...

'' and larger than in ''

Odostomia ''Odostomia'' is the most speciose genus of minute sea snails, pyramidellid gastropod mollusks. This genus is placed in the family Pyramidellidae in the subfamily Odostomiinae. There are several hundred species in this diverse genus ( Schande ...

''. The animal has wide tentacles, an elongated, flattened

mentum The mentum is an anatomical structure, a projecting feature that is near the mouth of a variety of animals: *In insects, the mentum is the distal part of the labium. The mentum bears the palps, glossae, paraglossae, and/or ligula. *On the hum ...

, usually bilobed in front. The foot is large and anteriorly auriculated.Dall & Bartsch, A Monograph of West American Pyramidellid Mollusks, United States National Museum Bulletin 68, p. 19: 1909
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Species

Species within the genus ''Turbonilla'' include:

A

* ''

Turbonilla abbotti ''Turbonilla abbotti'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Pyramidellidae, the pyrams and their allies.Rosenberg, G. (2015). Turbonilla abbotti. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine ...

'' (Robba, Di Geronimo, Chaimanee, Negri & Sanfilippo, 2004) * ''

Turbonilla abercrombiei ''Turbonilla abercrombiei'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Pyramidellidae, the pyrams and their allies.Rosenberg, G. (2011). ''Turbonilla abercrombiei'' Melvill, 1896. Accessed through: World Register of Mar ...

'' Melvill, 1896 * ''

Turbonilla abreojensis ''Turbonilla abreojensis'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Pyramidellidae, the pyrams and their allies.Rosenberg, G. (2012). ''Turbonilla abreojensis'' Dall & Bartsch, 1909. Accessed through: World Register ...

Dall Dall may refer to: People * Anders Bendssøn Dall (died 1607), Danish Lutheran bishop * Bobby Dall (born 1963), American musician * Caroline Healey Dall (1822–1912), American feminist writer *Clarrie Dall (1887–1953), Australian footballer * C ...

Bartsch Bartsch is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adam Bartsch (1757–1821), German scholar of old master prints and artist * Dietmar Bartsch (born 1958), German politician (Die Linke) * Jacob Bartsch (1600–1633), German as ...

, 1909 * ''

Turbonilla abreui ''Turbonilla abreui'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comp ...

'' Peñas & Rolán, 2000 * ''

Turbonilla abrupta ''Turbonilla abrupta'', common name the abrupt turbonilla, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Pyramidellidae, the pyrams and their allies.WoRMS (2010). ''Turbonilla abrupta'' Bush, 1899. Accessed through: ...

'' Bush, 1899 * ''

Turbonilla abseida ''Turbonilla abseida'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Pyramidellidae, the pyrams and their allies.Rosenberg, G. (2011). ''Turbonilla abseida'' Dall & Bartsch, 1906. Accessed through: World Register of M ...

, 1906 * ''

Turbonilla academica ''Turbonilla academica'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class c ...

'' Strong & Hertlein, 1939 * '' Turbonilla acer'' (Laws, 1937) * '' Turbonilla acicularis'' (A. Adams, 1855) * ''

Turbonilla acosmia ''Turbonilla'' is a large genus of ectoparasitic sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod molluscs in the family (biology), family Pyramidellidae, the pyrams and their allies.Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2011). ''Turbonilla'' Antoine Risso, Risso, ...

'' Dall & Bartsch, 1906 * ''

Turbonilla acra ''Turbonilla acra'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Pyramidellidae, the pyrams and their allies.Rosenberg, G. (2011). ''Turbonilla acra'' Dall & Bartsch, 1909. Accessed through: World Register of Marine ...

, 1909 * ''

Turbonilla actopora ''Turbonilla'' is a large genus of ectoparasitic sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Pyramidellidae, the pyrams and their allies.Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2011). ''Turbonilla'' Risso, 1826. Accessed through: World Register of ...

'' Dall & Bartsch, 1906 * ''

Turbonilla aculeus ''Turbonilla aculeus'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Pyramidellidae, the pyrams and their allies.WoRMS (2011). ''Turbonilla aculeus'' (C.B. Adams, 1852). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Spec ...

'' (

C. B. Adams Charles Baker Adams (January 11, 1814 – January 19, 1853) was an American educator and naturalist. Biography He was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts in 1814, the son of Charles J. Adams and Hannah Baker. He graduated from Phillips Academy in ...

, 1852) * ''

Turbonilla acuta ''Turbonilla acuta'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class compri ...

'' (

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world musi ...

, 1804) * ''

Turbonilla acutissima ''Turbonilla acutissima'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Pyramidellidae, the pyrams and their allies.Gofas, S. (2011). ''Turbonilla acutissima'' Monterosato, 1884. Accessed through: