Turbinella is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of large sea snail

Snail

Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...

s with a gill

Gill

A gill is a respiratory organ found in many aquatic organisms that extracts dissolved oxygen from water, afterward excreting carbon dioxide. The gills of some species such as hermit crabs have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are kept moist...

 and an operculum

Operculum (gastropod)

The operculum, meaning little lid, is a corneous or calcareous anatomical structure which exists in many groups of sea snails and freshwater snails, and also in a few groups of land snails...

, 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 in the family Turbinellidae

Turbinellidae

Turbinellidae are a family of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the order Neogastropoda.-Distribution:Species in this family are found world-wide, mostly in tropical shallow waters but some in deep waters.- Subfamilies :...

.

These species are sometimes known as "chanks" or "chank shells". One species in this genus is the sacred chank (Turbinella pyrum), see Shankha

Shankha

Shankha bhasam , also spelled and pronounced as Shankh and Sankha, is a conch shell of ritual and religious importance in Hinduism and Buddhism. It is the shell of a large predatory sea snail,Turbinella pyrum found in the Indian Ocean....

.

Description

Most species have massive shells with three or four prominent columellar plicae.

Species

Species within the genus Turbinella include:

• Turbinella angulata
  Turbinella angulata
  Turbinella angulata, common name the West Indian chank shell, is a species of very large tropical sea snail with a gill and an operculum, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Turbinellidae....
  
  (Lightfoot, 1786)
• Turbinella fusus G. B. Sowerby I, 1825 http://www.gastropods.com/1/Shell_3551.html
• Turbinella laevigata
  Turbinella laevigata
  Turbinella laevigata, common name the Brazilian chank, is a species of very large sea snail with a gill and an operculum, a marine gastropod mollusk in the subfamily Turbinellinae of the family Turbinellidae...
  
  Anton, 1838
• Turbinella laffertyi Kilburn, 1975
• Turbinella ponderosa (Lightfoot, 1786)
• Turbinella pyrum
  Turbinella pyrum
  Turbinella pyrum, common names the chank shell, sacred chank or chank, also known as the divine conch, sometimes referred to simply as a conch, is a species of very large sea snail with a gill and an operculum, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Turbinellidae...
  
  Linnaeus, 1758 - the sacred chank or shankha
  Shankha
  Shankha bhasam , also spelled and pronounced as Shankh and Sankha, is a conch shell of ritual and religious importance in Hinduism and Buddhism. It is the shell of a large predatory sea snail,Turbinella pyrum found in the Indian Ocean....
  
  
• Turbinella regina Heilprin, 1886 http://www.jaxshells.org/805g.htm
• † Turbinella wheeleri Petuch, 1994 http://www.malacolog.org/search.php?nameid=9868

Species brought into synonymy :

• Turbinella armigera Lesson, 1842 : synonym of Reishia armigera
  Reishia armigera
  Reishia armigera, common name : the Belligerent Rock Shell, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.-Description:The size of an adult shell varies between 50 mm and 105.5 mm....
  
  (Link, 1807)