Nassariidae

Nassariidae
A live individual of Nassarius tiarula
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Caenogastropoda
clade Hypsogastropoda
clade Neogastropoda
Superfamily: Buccinoidea
Family: Nassariidae
Iredale, 1916 (1835)
Genera

See text

Nassariidae, common name nassa mud snails (USA), or dog whelks (UK), are a taxonomic family of small to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Neogastropoda.

Contents

Shell description

These snails have rounded shells with a high spire, an oval aperture, and a siphonal notch.

Distribution

This family of snails is found worldwide.

Habitat

These snails are found mostly in shallow water, on sandy or muddy substrates, often intertidally, but sometimes in deep water. They can be present in very large numbers in suitable habitat.

Feeding habits

Nassariidae are primarily active and lively scavengers.

Taxonomy

The family Nassariidae is closely related to the family of the true whelks Buccinidae because of their shared characteristics in the anatomy of the species in these families (Ponder, 1973 [1]; Cernohorsky, 1984 [2];Hayashi, 2005 [3]), i.e. a long proboscis, the loss of glandular dorsal folds and a smaller gland of Leiblein (a dorsal venom gland in the mid-oesophagus).

According to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi (2005) the family Nassariidae consists of four subfamilies:

Genera

Genera within the family Nassariidae include:[5][6]

Nassariinae
Bullinae
Cylleninae
Dorsaninae
Subfamily ?

References

External links