The genus is known from the Eocene to the Recent periods (age range: from 33.9 to 0.0 million years ago). Fossils shells have been found in France, Greece, Japan, Morocco, Spain, Vanuatu, Guam, Cyprus, Greece, South Africa, Spain, Austria, Italy, Slovakia, New Zealand, Australia and Tonga. There are about 5 extinct species.[4]
The central teeth of the radula have no cusps. They have a narrow long basal plate, which is produced above the body of the tooth. The latter is wide, oval, and not reflected above. Its lower margin is not well-defined in my specimens which are, however, not stained. The laterals are of the usual form and bear cusps.
The imperforate shell has a turbinate shape. The spire is conic with whorls rounded at the periphery. The upper whorls are spiny. The base of the shell is convex. The operculum is nearly round with an excentric nucleus. The outside of the shell is polished, concave in the middle, with a convexity or rib upon the center of the spiral.[5]
Bieler R, Bouchet P, Gofas S, Marshall B, Rosenberg G, La Perna R, Neubauer TA, Sartori AF, Schneider S, Vos C, ter Poorten JJ, Taylor J, Dijkstra H, Finn J, Bank R, Neubert E, Moretzsohn F, Faber M, Houart R, Picton B, Garcia-Alvarez O, eds. (2024). "Bolma Risso, 1826". MolluscaBase. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
Sacco, 1896, I Molluschi dei terreni terziarii del Piemonte e della Liguria, Parte 21: 19
Schepman, 1908, Siboga Expeditie, 49a: 27
Finlay, 1926, Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute, 57: 367, 373
Williams, S.T. (2007). Origins and diversification of Indo-West Pacific marine fauna: evolutionary history and biogeography of turban shells (Gastropoda, Turbinidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2007, 92, 573–592
Alf A. & Kreipl K. (2011) The family Turbinidae. Subfamilies Turbininae Rafinesque, 1815 and Prisogasterinae Hickman & McLean, 1990. In: G.T. Poppe & K. Groh (eds), A Conchological Iconography. Hackenheim: Conchbooks. pp.1–82, pls 104–245.
