Cystiscidae
Encyclopedia
Cystiscidae is a taxonomic family
of minute sea snail
s, marine
gastropod mollusks or micromollusk
s.
, or axially costate; the spire
is flat to immersed, or low to tall; the protoconch
is paucispiral; the lip is thickened, smooth or denticulate; an external varix
is present or absent; a siphonal notch
is present or absent; a posterior notch is present or absent; the columella is multiplicate, internal whorls
cystiscid or modified cystiscid type. Mantle
cavity with monopectinate ctenidium and bipectinate osphradium. Proboscis pleurembolic; jaws absent; typical radula
r sac present.
for a single included species based on unusual features of the head and radula
. Subsequent authors included this group in the family Marginellidae
.
Coan (1965) recognized this group as a subfamily, but he did not include such genera as Gibberula, Persicula, and Canalispira. Rule of priority of the ICZN
require that the name Cystiscidae must be used, but this is unfortunate because the type
specimen of the type species is lost, and that species is poorly known.
):
Cystiscinae
Granulininae
Persiculinae
Plesiocystiscinae
Abbreviations:
Comparisons of shells of the genera:
Family
In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...
of minute sea snail
Sea snail
Sea snail is a common name for those snails that normally live in saltwater, marine gastropod molluscs....
s, marine
Marine (ocean)
Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...
gastropod mollusks or micromollusk
Micromollusk
A micromollusk is a descriptive term for a shelled mollusk which is extremely small, even at full adult size. The word is usually, but not exclusively, applied to marine mollusks, although in addition, numerous species of land snails and freshwater mollusks also reach adult size at very small...
s.
Description
The shell is minute to large, either white, uniformly colored, or patterned; the surface is smooth, sculpturedSculpture (mollusc)
The sculpture of a mollusc shell is the three-dimensional ornamentation on the outer surface, as distinct from the basic shape of the shell itself or colouration. Sculpture may be concave as well as convex. Sometimes it has microscopic detail. Sculpture refers to the calcareous outer layer, not the...
, or axially costate; the spire
Spire (mollusc)
A spire is a descriptive term for part of the coiled shell of mollusks. The word is a convenient aid in describing shells, but it does not refer to a very precise part of shell anatomy: the spire consists of all of the whorls except for the body whorl...
is flat to immersed, or low to tall; the protoconch
Protoconch
A protoconch is an embryonic or larval shell of some classes of molluscs, e.g., the initial chamber of an ammonite or the larval shell of a gastropod...
is paucispiral; the lip is thickened, smooth or denticulate; an external varix
Varix (mollusc)
A varix is an anatomical feature of the shell of certain sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs.It is a thickened axial ridge in the shell of some families of gastropods. A varix is located at intervals around the whorl, and is formed by considerable thickening of the outer lip at a resting stage...
is present or absent; a siphonal notch
Siphonal canal
Some sea marine gastropods have a soft tubular anterior extension of the mantle called a siphon through which water is drawn into the mantle cavity and over the gill and which serves as a chemoreceptor to locate food. In many carnivorous snails, where the siphon is particularly long, the structure...
is present or absent; a posterior notch is present or absent; the columella is multiplicate, internal whorls
Whorl (mollusc)
A whorl is a single, complete 360° revolution or turn in the spiral growth of a mollusc shell. A spiral configuration of the shell is found in of numerous gastropods, but it is also found in shelled cephalopods including Nautilus, Spirula and the large extinct subclass of cephalopods known as the...
cystiscid or modified cystiscid type. Mantle
Mantle (mollusc)
The mantle is a significant part of the anatomy of molluscs: it is the dorsal body wall which covers the visceral mass and usually protrudes in the form of flaps well beyond the visceral mass itself.In many, but by no means all, species of molluscs, the epidermis of the mantle secretes...
cavity with monopectinate ctenidium and bipectinate osphradium. Proboscis pleurembolic; jaws absent; typical radula
Radula
The radula is an anatomical structure that is used by molluscs for feeding, sometimes compared rather inaccurately to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food enters the esophagus...
r sac present.
Taxonomy
The family was erected by William StimpsonWilliam Stimpson
William Stimpson was a noted American scientist.- Biography :Stimpson was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Herbert Hathorne Stimpson and Mary Ann Devereau Brewer. The Stimpsons were of the old colonial and Revolutionary stock of Massachusetts, the earliest known member of the family being James...
for a single included species based on unusual features of the head and radula
Radula
The radula is an anatomical structure that is used by molluscs for feeding, sometimes compared rather inaccurately to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food enters the esophagus...
. Subsequent authors included this group in the family Marginellidae
Marginellidae
Marginellidae, or the margin shells, are a taxonomic family of small, often colorful, sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Neogastropoda.- Taxonomy :...
.
Coan (1965) recognized this group as a subfamily, but he did not include such genera as Gibberula, Persicula, and Canalispira. Rule of priority of the ICZN
International Code of Zoological Nomenclature
The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals...
require that the name Cystiscidae must be used, but this is unfortunate because the type
Biological type
In biology, a type is one particular specimen of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached...
specimen of the type species is lost, and that species is poorly known.
2005 taxonomy
The family Cystiscidae consists of four subfamilies (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005Taxonomy of the Gastropoda (Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005)
The taxonomy of the Gastropoda as it was revised by Philippe Bouchet and Jean-Pierre Rocroi is currently the most up-to-date overall system for classifying gastropod mollusks...
):
- CystiscinaeCystiscinaeCystiscinae are a taxonomic subfamily of minute sea snails. These are marine gastropod mollusks or micromollusks in the family Cystiscidae, and the clade Neogastropoda.- Diagnosis :...
Stimpson, 1865 - Granulininae Coovert & Coovert, 1995
- PersiculinaePersiculinaePersiculinae is a taxonomic subfamily of minute to small predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks. This subfamily includes several species which are micromollusks....
Coovert & Coovert, 1995 - PlesiocystiscinaePlesiocystiscinaePlesiocystiscinae is a subfamily of minute sea predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks or micromollusks in the infraorder Neogastropoda....
G. A. Coovert & H. K. Coovert, 1995
Genera
Genera within the family Cystiscidae include:Cystiscinae
- † TopaginellaTopaginellaTopaginella is a genus of minute fossil sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Cystiscidae. Like all of the related genera, this are sometimes still classified in the family Marginellidae.This genus is extinct.-Shell description :...
Laseron, 1957:288 - CystiscusCystiscusCystiscus is a taxonomic genus of minute sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks or micromollusks.This genus was placed in the family Cystiscidae by Coovert and Coovert, 1995...
Stimpson, 1865:55 - CritheCritheCrithe is a genus of minute sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks or micromollusks in the family Cystiscidae. This genus is sometimes still placed within the Marginellidae....
Gould, 1860:384 - Extra Jousseaume, 1894:98,101 - with the only species Extra extraExtra extraExtra extra or Marginella extra is a species of minute sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk or micromollusk in the family Cystiscidae. Some malacologists place this genus more simply in the family Marginellidae.- Taxonomy :...
Jousseaume, 1894; M - IntelcystiscusIntelcystiscusIntelcystiscus is a genus of minute sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc or micromollusc in the family Cystiscidae.- Species:Species within the genus Intelcystiscus include:* Intelcystiscus coyi Espinosa & Ortea, 2002...
Ortea and Espinosa, 2001 - InbiocystiscusInbiocystiscusInbiocystiscus is a genus of minute sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Cystiscidae.- Species:Species within the genus Inbiocystiscus include:* Inbiocystiscus gamezi Ortea & Espinosa, 2001 - type species...
Ortea and Espinosa, 2001 - TicocystiscusTicocystiscusTicocystiscus is a genus of minute sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Cystiscidae.This genus, and indeed all the genera in the family, were previously and sometimes still are, placed in the family Marginellidae....
Espinosa and Ortea, 2002
Granulininae
- GranulinaGranulinaGranulina is a genus of minute sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks or micromollusks in the family Cystiscidae.-Species:Species within the genus Granulina include:* Granulina africana Gofas,1992* Granulina aidae Espinosa & Ortea, 2006...
Jousseaume, 1888:191 - PugnusPugnusPugnus is a genus of very small sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks or micromollusks in the family Marginellidae.-Species:Species within the genus Pugnus include:* Pugnus lachrimula * Pugnus maesae Roth, 1972...
Hedley, 1896:105-106 - PaolauraPaolauraPaolaura is a genus of very small sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks or micromollusks in the family Cystiscidae.-Species:Species within the genus Paolaura include:* Paolaura kenyaensis Smriglio & Mariottini, 2001...
Smiriglio & Mariottini, 2001
Persiculinae
- PersiculaPersiculaPersicula is a taxonomic genus of minute to small predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks. It includes several species which are micromollusks....
Schumacher, 1817 - GibberulaGibberulaGibberula is a genus of minute sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk or micromollusk in the family Cystiscidae, previously placed in the family Marginellidae, the margin shells or marginellids....
Swainson, 1840 - CanalispiraCanalispiraCanalispira is a genus of very small sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks or micromollusks in the family Cystiscidae.-Species:Species within the genus Canalispira include:* Canalispira attentia...
Jousseaume, 1875:168,270 - Furcilla Espinosa & Ortea, 2000
- Furcilla tica Espinosa & Ortea, 2000; OD
Plesiocystiscinae
- PlesiocystiscusPlesiocystiscusPlesiocystiscus is a genus of minute sea predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks or micromollusks in the family Cystiscidae. -Etymology:...
Coovert & Coovert, 1995:66
Abbreviations:
- (M) - original designation by monotype
- OD - original designation
- OD (M) - original designation as type species, but also monotypic
- SD - subsequent designation as type
- SD (M) - subsequent designation as type species, but also monotypic
- T - original designation by tautonomy
Comparisons of shells of the genera:
External links
- The Academy of Natural Sciences. A Database of Western Atlantic Marine Mollusca