| Serpulorbis | |
|---|---|
| Serpulorbis squamiger | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): | clade Caenogastropoda clade Hypsogastropoda clade Littorinimorpha |
| Superfamily: | Vermetoidea |
| Family: | Vermetidae |
| Genus: | Serpulorbis Sassi, 1827 [1] |
| Species | |
|
See text. |
|
Serpulorbis is a genus of sea snails known as worm shells or worm snails. These are marine gastropod molluscs in the family Vermetidae, the wormsnails. Unlike some other vermetids, the species in this genus have no operculum.
Serpulorbis snails have shells which are long and irregular. They do not have regular coiling like that of a typical gastropod shell, and they are usually cemented onto a hard surface. Because of all this, the shells resemble the calcareous tubes of certain marine worms, for example worms in the polychaete family Serpulidae.
According to the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), the following species with valid names are included within the genus Serpulorbis :[2]