Marine Snails Codexery

Turbinidae

Marine snails with a distinctive calcareous operculum used for defense.

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Marine gastropod molluscs of small to large size that belong to the superfamily Trochoidea are called Turbinidae, or turban snails.[1] Originating in the Permian period, which lasted from 298 to 250 million years ago, Turbinidae represents a quite ancient gastropod group.[2]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumMollusca
  3. ClassGastropoda
  4. SubclassVetigastropoda
  5. OrderTrochida
  6. FamilyTurbinidae

Named by Rafinesque, 1815

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Turbinidae (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Quick Facts

Common name
turban snails
Superfamily
Trochoidea (also previously Trochacea, and in 2005 taxonomy Turbinoidea)
Operculum type
strong, thick calcareous
Operculum shape
rounded ovals, flat with a swirl design on one side and domed on the other
Operculum common names
  • Pacific cat's eye
  • Shiva eye shells
  • mermaid money
Origin period
Permian (298 to 250 million years ago)

Facts from the source article.

Biology and range

Turbinids occur in both shallow and deep waters.[3] Most species live in tropical and subtropical shallow waters.[3] The shell interior is nacreous, a typical primitive character.[2] According to the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005), the family consists of eight subfamilies.[4]

Turbinidae was redefined and moved to the redefined superfamily Trochoidea according to Williams et al. (2008).[5] The World Register of Marine Species lists Turbinidae as accepted, in the order Trochida and class Gastropoda.[6] GBIF holds 633,392 occurrence records for this taxon as of 7 October 2026.[7] According to Williams et al. (2008), the family is divided into five subfamilies.[8]

What the specialist sources record

GBIF accepts the family Turbinidae within the kingdom Animalia, phylum Mollusca, class Gastropoda, and order Trochida.[7] The WoRMS database indicates that Turbinidae occurs in both marine and freshwater environments.[6] Thelen's 2022 book "Revitalization and internal colonialism in rural Japan" (published by Routledge) discusses the decline in turban snail populations that Ama divers have observed.[3][9] Turbinidae has the AphiaID 503 in the WoRMS database, with its author listed as Rafinesque, 1815.[6]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Turbinidae" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bouchet, P. (2014). Turbinidae Rafinesque, 1815. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=50 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Turbinidae" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Alf A., Kreipl K. & Poppe G. T. (2003) The Family Turbinidae, Subfamily Turbininae, Genus Turbo. In: Poppe G. T. & Groh K. (eds.): A Conchological Iconography: (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Turbinidae" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Thelen, "Revitalization and internal colonialism in rural Japan", Routledge, 2022, p. 126ff. (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Turbinidae" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gofas, S. (2009). Prisogasterinae. In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. (2009) World Marine Mollusca database. Accessed through the World Register of Marin (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Turbinidae" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Williams S. T., Karube S. & Ozawa T. (September 2008) "Molecular systematics of Vetigastropoda: Trochidae, Turbinidae and Trochoidea redefined". Zoologica Scrip; Williams S. T., Karube S. & Ozawa T. (September 2008) "Molecular systematics of Vetigastropoda: Trochidae, Turbinidae and Trochoidea redefined". Zoologica Scrip; Williams S. T., Karube S. & Ozawa T. (September 2008) "Molecular systematics of Vetigastropoda: Trochidae, Turbinidae and Trochoidea redefined". Zoologica Scrip (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. World Register of Marine Species, Turbinidae (AphiaID 503). CC BY 4.0. marinespecies.org
  7. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence index, Turbinidae (taxon key 6802). CC BY 4.0 (backbone); counts are facts. gbif.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Turbinidae" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Williams S. T., Karube S. & Ozawa T. (September 2008) "Molecular systematics of Vetigastropoda: Trochidae, Turbinidae and Trochoidea redefined". Zoologica Scrip (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Open Library record, ISBN 9781032198712 ("Revitalization and Internal Colonialism in Rural Japan"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Turbinidae (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Related entries

Named in this entry

Trochidae

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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