Tower snails

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Tower snails
The shell of a tower snail

The shell of a tower snail

Systematics
Subclass : Orthogastropoda
Superordinate : Caenogastropoda
Order : Sorbeoconcha
Subordination : Discopoda
Superfamily : Cerithioidea
Family : Tower snails
Scientific name
Turritellidae
Lovén , 1847

The family turritellidae (Turritellidae) belongs to the class of snails and after the recent classification in the order of sorbeoconcha such as even beach snails (Littorininae) and Grübchenschnecken (Lacuninae). In the past they were placed in the now outdated order Mesogastropoda ( mean snails ). Tower snails is also a common name for unrelated snail species and families with tower-like shells (such as the Turridae family ).

features

Many of the species in this family are characterized by an elongated, tapering shape of the shell with a large number of turns, which explains the name tower snails. The antennae on the head are relatively long, the foot is rather short. The seam (the area between the individual turns) is clearly defined, there is no navel. The upper ones of up to 19 turns in some species are usually less arched than the lower ones.

Way of life

These snails found in the sea burrow into the sea floor and feed mostly by swirling in small food particles. Strudlers are animals that - in contrast to the filter feeders - actively generate a stream of water using flagella or cilia in order to filter small food particles from it. The genus Turritella generates the water flow, for example, with the help of the bristles on the edge of the lid ( operculum ). All species are separate sexes, hermaphrodites do not occur. Some species are ovoviviparous and their offspring hatch in the mother's womb.

species

Is known mainly in the North Sea and in the Mediterranean living Turritella communis ( Turritella communis ). The large tower snail ( Turritella terebra ) with a size of up to 18 cm occurs in the Indo-Pacific region. The first fossils of this family have been known since Devonian .

Fossil find localities

The Turritellidae play a major role in paleontology in the chronological determination of rock layers by fossils ( biostratigraphy ).

  • The Ermingen Turritellen plate is an important site of fossil Turritellen . It represents a massive accumulation of tower snails ( Turritella turris BASTEROT) from the lower Miocene . The deposit was formed around 18.5 million years ago ( Lower Ottnangian ) under shallow marine conditions near the coast. The site is located near Ulm - Ermingen ( Hochsträß ) and has been described in several paleontological studies.

credentials

  1. ↑ J. Baier: About the tertiary education in the Ulm area . - Documenta Naturae, 168, 1-32; Munich, 2008. ISBN 978-3-86544-168-3
  2. ↑ J. Baier: The geology of the Ulm area - Documenta Naturae, 173, 1-44; Munich, 2009. ISBN 978-3-86544-173-7
  3. ↑ J. Baier: A contribution to the Erminger Turritellenplatte (Middle Swabian Alb, SW Germany). - Annual report Middle Upper Rhine. geol. Ver., NF 90, 9-17; Stuttgart, 2008. - ISSN  0078-2947
  4. ↑ J. Baier, K.-H. Schmitt and R. Mick: Notes on the sub-Miocene shark and ray fauna of the Erminger Turritellenplatte (Middle Swabian Alb, SW Germany). - Annual report Middle Upper Rhine. geol. Ver., NF 86, 361-371; Stuttgart, 2004 ISSN  0078-2947
  5. ↑ O. Höltke: The mollusc fauna of the upper sea molasses of Ermingen and Ursendorf. Dipl.-Arb., Geowiss. Inst., Univ. Tübingen, 2005

literature

  • Lexicon of Biology . 14 vols. Elsevier / Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, 2006, ISBN 3-8274-1736-8
  • Erich Ziegelmeier: The snails (Gastropoda Prosobranchia) of the German marine areas and brackish coastal waters . Helgoland Marine Research 13 (1/2) July 1966, pp. 1-61, ISSN  1438-387X

Web links

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