Nassariidae

Nassarius tiarula, Monterey, California

The Nassariidae are a family of small to medium-sized, exclusively marine snails that are found in all oceans. The representatives of the family are largely scavengers, which occur mostly in shallow water, in some cases also at greater depths.

Features

The rechtsgewunden, solid, ovate to spherical housing have a tapered thread, an oval body and a mouth twisted backwards Siphonalkanal. They are 4 to 75 mm in size. The outer lip may be thickened and is perforated. The operculum is horny and triangular to oval.

Life, the occurrence and distribution

The Nassariidae are widespread in all tropical and temperate seas worldwide. The greatest diversity of species, the family in the Indo-Pacific. They live in the marine environment to about 1250 m depth. In the North Sea and Baltic Sea, the family is represented by the netted dog whelk.

The types of Nassariidae are largely scavengers.

System

After Bouchet and Rocroi ( 2005), the family Nassariidae one of six families in the superfamily Buccinoidea. You divide the family Nassariidae into four subfamilies:

• Nassariinae Iredale, 1916 (1835)
• Bullinae Allmon, 1990
• Cylleninae L. Bellardi, 1882
• Dorsaninae Cossmann, 1901