Conifer snails
| Conifer snails | ||||||||||
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| Cerithiidae | ||||||||||
| Fleming , 1822 |
The conifer snails ( Cerithiidae ), also horn snails or pipefish , are a family of marine snails that includes around 185 recent species in around 24 recognized genera .
features
The Cerithiidae are small to medium-sized snails and reach shell lengths between 3 mm ( Bittium alternatum ) and 15 cm ( Cerithium nodulosum ). Their tower-shaped, solid-shell housings have a high, conical thread with numerous circumferences and are usually covered with numerous nodes, ribs or tires. The small case mouth has a slightly curved edge or a siphon channel at its base. The thin, horny operculum has few twists and is mostly gray in color.
The ribbon-shaped (taenioglosse) radula has seven teeth in each row. On either side of each of the individually standing rachis teeth stand a rhomboidal lateral tooth and two long, hook-shaped marginal teeth.
The snails are separate sexes. The females lay the eggs in gelatinous spiral strings. Free-swimming Veliger larvae hatch, which later metamorphose into finished snails .
Ecology and diffusion
Needle snails can be found worldwide in seas in shallow water on sandy subsoil and coral reefs with sand and algae or even rocks . They are widespread in warm and temperate zones, but especially in the tropics. In the North Sea the approximately 0.5 to 1.5 cm large reticulated needle snail ( Bittium reticulatum ) is common. Individual species of the subfamily Bittiinae also reach greater water depths. Few species occur in mangrove forests .
The conifer snails feed on microscopic algae and detritus, which they scrape off the substrate with their radula.
Fossils
The genus Cerithium has been documented since the Triassic . Numerous species of this family serve as key fossils of the marine Tertiary .
Taxonomy and systematics
According to Bouchet and Rocroi (2005), the Cerithiidae family is divided into three subfamilies and around 24 genera. Most of the species - around 84 - are currently placed in the type genus Cerithium , which is represented in warm seas around the world.
The recognized genera of the Cerithiidae family are distributed among the three subfamilies as follows:
- Alabininae Dall , 1927
- Alabina Dall, 1902
- Bittiinae Cossmann, 1906
- Argyropeza Melvill & Standen, 1901
- Bittiolum Cossmann, 1906
- Bittium Gray, 1847
- Cacozeliana Beach, 1928
- Cassiella Gofas, 1987
- Cerithidium Monterosato, 1884
- Ittibittium Houbrick, 1993
- Lirobittium Bartsch, 1911
- Neostylidium Doweld, 2013
- Pictorium Strong & Bouchet, 2013
- Varicopeza Grondel, 1976
- Zebittium Finlay, 1926
- Cerithiinae Fleming, 1822
- Cerithioclava Bruguière, 1789
- Cerithium Bruguière, 1789
- Clavocerithium Cossmann, 1920
- Clypeomorus Jousseaume, 1888
- Colina H. Adams & A. Adams, 1854
- Fastigiella Reeve 1848
- Gourmya Bayle, 1884
- Liocerithium Tryon, 1887
- Pseudovertagus Vignal, 1904
- Rhinoclavis Swainson, 1840
- Royella Iredale, 1912
literature
- Philippe Bouchet & Jean-Pierre Rocroi: Part 2. Working classification of the Gastropoda . Malacologia, 47: 239-283, Ann Arbor 2005 ISSN 0076-2997
- K. Bandel (2006): Families of the Cerithioidea and related superfamilies (Palaeo-Caenogastropoda; Mollusca) from the Triassic to the Recent characterized by protoconch morphology - including the description of new taxa . Freiberger Forschungshefte C 511, pp. 59-138.
Web links
- Fischhaus Zepkow: Family Cerithiidae
- Cerithiidae . Lexicon of Biology
- Des Beechey, Senior Fellow, Australian Museum: Family Cerithiidae - Ceriths or Creepers (Seashells of New South Wales)
- Genera