AI tools
Loading AI tools

The Buccinidae are a very large and diverse taxonomic family of large sea snails, often known as whelks or true whelks.[1][2]

Quick Facts Scientific classification, Type genus ...
Buccinidae
Thumb
Apertural view of a shell of Penion maximus, anterior end towards the bottom of the page
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Superfamily: Buccinoidea
Family: Buccinidae
Rafinesque, 1815
Type genus
Buccinum
Genera

See text

Synonyms[1]
  • Cominellidae
  • Donovaniinae
  • Cytharinae Thiele, 1929
  • Mangeliinae P. Fischer, 1883
  • Oenopotinae Bogdanov, 1987
Close

The family includes more than 1500 species.

Taxonomy

The family Busyconidae was for a time treated as a subfamily of Buccinidae called Busyconinae.

Genera Antillophos, Engoniophos, Phos, Nassaria, Tomlinia, Anentome and Clea were treated within family Buccinidae, but they were moved to Nassariidae in 2016.[3]

Habitat

The true whelks occur worldwide in all seas from tropical oceans to the cold seas of the Arctic Ocean and the Southern Ocean.[2] They are found from the intertidal to the bathypelagic zones. Most prefer a solid bottom, but some inhabit sandy substrates.

Description

Thumb
A siphon whelk Penion ormesi, collected from Golden Bay in New Zealand.

The shells of species in this family are moderate to large in size, conical to fusiform in shape. The shell often has deep sutures. The shell surface is generally smooth, sometimes with a spiral and/ or axial sculpture. The thickness of the shell is more pronounced in tropical shallow-water species, while the shell of species living in moderate and colder waters is generally thin or moderately thin. The top of the whorls are more or less shouldered. The radial ribs of the shell sometimes show shoulder knobs. The aperture is large with a well-defined siphonal canal. The rim of the aperture is sometimes used to pry open the shell of bivalves. The aperture is closed by a horny operculum.

The soft body is elongated and spiral. The head has two conical, depressed tentacles which bear the eyes on a lobe or prominence at their base. The mouth contains a long, cylindrical, annulated proboscis and a small tongue. The mantle forms a thin-edged flap over the branchial cavity. On the left side, it has an elongated, open canal, that emerges by a notch or groove in the shell. The two gills are elongated, unequal and pectinate (i.e. in a comb-like arrangement). The large foot is generally broad.[4]

True whelks are carnivores and scavengers.[2] They feed on clams, carrion, and sometimes even on detritus. Their sense of smell is very well-developed; they can sense chemical signals from their prey from a considerable distance with their osphradia. Many whelks are capable of boring through the shell of bivalves, and because of this, some species cause much harm in oyster farms. True whelks can even attack fish caught in a net by extending their probosces to twice the length of their own bodies.

The female whelk lays spongy egg capsules with hundreds of eggs. These form round clusters or a tower-shaped masses. Only about 10% of these eggs hatch. The larvae then feed on the rest of the eggs that have not yet hatched.

The flesh of the common northern whelk, Buccinum undatum, is much appreciated by connoisseurs as a food item, but its consumption is currently somewhat in decline.

The empty shell of a whelk is often used by the hermit crab to make its home.

Buccinum undatum looking for a partner and mating
Thumb
Egg cases of the common whelk (Buccinum undatum)
Thumb
Egg cases of the knobbed whelk (Busycon carica), from Delaware Bay

Taxonomy

Thumb
Three Kelletia lischkei whelks from Japan.

According to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi (2005), the family Buccinidae consists of six subfamilies:

Subfamily Buccininae Rafinesque, 1815

  • tribe Ancistrolepidini Habe & Sato, 1973
  • tribe Buccinini Rafinesque, 1815
  • tribe Buccinulini Finlay, 1928
  • tribe Colini Gray, 1857 - synonyms: Neptuneinae Stimpson, 1865; Chrysodominae Dall, 1870; Pyramimitridae Cossmann, 1901; Truncariinae Cossmann, 1901; Metajapelioninae Gorychaev, 1987
  • tribe Cominellini Gray, 1857: in 2021 upgraded to family level Cominellidae
  • tribe Liomesini P. Fischer, 1884 - synonym: Buccinopsidae G. O. Sars, 1878 (inv.)
  • tribe Parancistrolepidini Habe, 1972 - synonym: Brevisiphoniinae Lus, 1973
  • tribe Prosiphonini Powell, 1951
  • tribe Volutopsiini Habe & Sato, 1973

Subfamily Beringiinae Golikov & Starobogatov, 1975

Subfamily Busyconinae* Wade, 1917 (1867) : presently, Busyconinae is treated as a synonym of the Busyconidae.

Subfamily Donovaniinae Casey, 1904 - synonym: Lachesinae L. Bellardi, 1877 (inv.)

Subfamily Neptuneinae W. Stimpson, 1865

Subfamily Siphonaliinae Finlay, 1928 - synonym: Austrosiphonidae Cotton & Godfrey, 1938

The subfamily Pisaniinae has been raised to the status of family Pisaniidae in 2009 by Galindo, L. A.; Puillandre, N.; Utge, J.; Lozouet, P.; Bouchet, P.[3]

Genera

Thumb
Buccinum undatum on a stamp from the Faroe Islands

Genera within the family Buccinidae include:

subfamily Buccininae

tribe Ancistrolepidini

tribe Buccinini

tribe Buccinulini

tribe Colini

tribe Liomesini

tribe Parancistrolepidini

  • Parancistrolepis Azuma, 1965

tribe Prosiphonini

tribe Volutopsiini

Subfamily Beringiinae

subfamily Donovaniinae

Subfamily Neptuneinae W. Stimpson, 1865

subfamily Siphonaliinae

subfamily ?

Genera brought into synonymy
  • Acamptochetus Cossmann, 1901: synonym ofMetula H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853
  • Adansonia Pallary, 1902: synonym of Chauvetia Monterosato, 1884
  • Agassitula Olsson & Bayer, 1972: synonym of Metula H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853
  • Anomalosipho: synonym of Anomalisipho Dautzenberg & H. Fischer, 1912
  • Antemetula Rehder, 1943: synonym of Metula H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853
  • Antimitra Iredale, 1917: synonym ofMetula H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853
  • Barbitonia Dall, 1916: synonym of Neptunea (Barbitonia) Dall, 1916 represented as Neptunea Röding, 1798
  • Bathyclionella Kobelt, 1905: synonym of Belomitra P. Fischer, 1883
  • Boreofusus G.O. Sars, 1878: synonym of Troschelia Mörch, 1876
  • Brevisiphonia Lus, 1973: synonym of Thalassoplanes Dall, 1908
  • Buccinopsis Jeffreys, 1867: synonym of Liomesus Stimpson, 1865
  • Chauvetiella F. Nordsieck, 1968: synonym of Chauvetia Monterosato, 1884
  • Chrysodomus Swainson, 1840: synonym of Neptunea Röding, 1798
  • Colicryptus Iredale, 1918: synonym of Turrisipho Dautzenberg & H. Fischer, 1912
  • Colubrarina Kuroda & Habe in Kuroda, Habe & Oyama, 1971: synonym of Metula H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853
  • Cryptomitra Dall, 1924: synonym of Belomitra P. Fischer, 1883
  • Dellina Beu, 1970: synonym of Belomitra P. Fischer, 1883
  • Donovania Bucquoy, Dautzenberg & Dollfus, 1883: synonym of Chauvetia Monterosato, 1884
  • Donovaniella F. Nordsieck, 1968: synonym of Chauvetia Monterosato, 1884
  • Echinosipho Kaiser, 1977: synonym of Americominella Klappenbach & Ureta, 1972
  • Floritula Olsson & Bayer, 1972: synonym of Metula H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853
  • Folineaea Monterosato, 1884: synonym of Chauvetia Monterosato, 1884
  • Fulgur Montfort, 1810: synonym of Busycon Röding, 1798
  • Jumala Friele, 1882: synonym of Beringius Dall, 1887
  • Kapala Ponder, 1982: synonym of Buccipagoda Ponder, 2010
  • Lachesis Risso, 1826: synonym of Chauvetia Monterosato, 1884
  • Mada Jeffreys, 1867: synonym of Buccinum Linnaeus, 1758
  • Madiella Wenz, 1943: synonym of Buccinum Linnaeus, 1758
  • Mala Cossmann, 1901: synonym of Buccinum Linnaeus, 1758
  • Minitula Olsson & Bayer, 1972: synonym of Metula H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853
  • Morrisonella Bartsch, 1945: synonym of Belomitra P. Fischer, 1883
  • Neptunia Locard, 1886: synonym of Neptunea Röding, 1798
  • Nesaea Risso, 1826: synonym of Chauvetia Monterosato, 1884
  • Parasipho Dautzenberg & H. Fischer, 1912: synonym of Plicifusus Dall, 1902
  • Pleurobela Monterosato in Locard, 1897: synonym of Belomitra P. Fischer, 1883
  • Quasisipho Petrov, 1982: synonym of Plicifusus Dall, 1902
  • Sipho Mörch, 1852: synonym of Colus Röding, 1798
  • Siphonorbis Mörch, 1869: synonym of Colus Röding, 1798
  • Strombella Gray, 1857: synonym of Volutopsius Mörch, 1857
  • Syntagma Iredale, 1918: synonym of Chauvetia Monterosato, 1884
  • Tritonidea Swainson, 1840: synonym of Cantharus Röding, 1798
  • Tritonium O.F. Müller, 1776: synonym of Buccinum Linnaeus, 1758
  • Tritonofusus Beck, 1847: synonym of Colus Röding, 1798

References

Further reading

External links

Wikiwand in your browser!

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.

Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.

Chrome
Wikiwand for Chrome
Edge
Wikiwand for Edge
Firefox
Wikiwand for Firefox