Olivellidae
| Olivellidae | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Olivella biplicata | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): | clade Caenogastropoda clade Hypsogastropoda |
| Superfamily: | Olivoidea |
| Family: | Olivellidae Troschel, 1869 |
| Genera | |
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See text. | |
Olivellidae, common name the "dwarf olives", are a family of small predatory sea snails with smooth, shiny, elongated oval-shaped shells. The shells sometimes show muted but attractive colors, and may have some patterning.
These animals are marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Olivoidea, within the clade Neogastropoda according to the taxonomy of Bouchet and Rocroi.
Taxonomy
This group were previously placed within the family Olividae, the olives.
According to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi (2005) the family Olivellidae has no subfamilies.
Distribution
Olivella snails are found worldwide, in subtropical and tropical seas and oceans.
Habitat
These snails are found on sandy substrates intertidally and subtidally.
Life habits
These snails are all carnivorous sand-burrowers.
Shell description
The shells are basically oval and cylindrical in shape. They have a well-developed stepped spire. Olivella shells have a siphonal notch at the posterior end of the long narrow aperture. The siphon of the living animal protrudes from the siphon notch.
The shell surface is extremely glossy because in life the mantle almost always covers the shell.[1][2]
The fossil record
Olive shells first appeared during the Campanian.[3]
Genera
- Janaoliva Sterba & Lorenz, 2005
- Olivella
- Olivellopsis Thiele, 1929
- Genera brought into synonymy
- Dactylidia H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853 : synonym of Olivella Swainson, 1831
- Janoliva [sic]: synonym of Janaoliva Sterba & Lorenz, 2005
References
- ↑ Washington State University Tri-Cities Natural History Museum (2001). Family: Olividae (Olive Shells). Retrieved on 12 July 2006.
- ↑ Vermeij, Geerat J (3 April 1995). A Natural History of Shells. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-00167-7. pps. 89, 100, 114.
- ↑ Vermeij, Geerat J (1 September 1993). Evolution and Escalation. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-00080-8. p.182.
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