Siphonaria

Siphonaria
SP01 - Siphonaria - 17 mm
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Siphonariida
Superfamily: Siphonarioidea
Family: Siphonariidae
Genus: Siphonaria
Sowerby I, 1823
Type species
Siphonaria sipho
Synonyms
  • Anthosiphonaria Kuroda & Habe, 1971
  • Ductosiphonaria Hubendick, 1945
  • Hubendickula McAlpine, 1952
  • Kerguelenella Powell, 1946
  • Kerguelenia Mabille & Rochebrune, 1889 (Invalid: junior homonym of Kerguelenia Stebbing, 1888 [Crustacea]; Kerguelenella is a replacement name)
  • Liriola Dall, 1870
  • Mouretus Blainville, 1824
  • Parellsiphon Iredale, 1940
  • Patellopsis Nobre, 1886
  • Planesiphon Zilch, 1959 (junior synonym)
  • Simplisiphonaria Hubendick, 1945
  • Siphonaria (Anthosiphonaria) Kuroda & Habe, 1971 · alternate representation
  • Siphonaria (Ductosiphonaria) Hubendick, 1945
  • Siphonaria (Kerguelenella) Powell, 1946
  • Siphonaria (Liriola) Dall, 1870
  • Siphonaria (Mouretus) Blainville, 1824
  • Siphonaria (Patellopsis) Nobre, 1886
  • Siphonaria (Planesiphon) Zilch, 1859 (junior synonym)
  • Siphonaria (Sacculosiphonaria) Hubendick, 1945 (a junior synonym)
  • Siphonaria (Siphonaria) Sowerby I, 1823
  • Talisiphon Iredale, 1940 (junior synonym)
  • Torquisiphon Iredale, 1940

Siphonaria is a genus of air-breathing sea snails in the family Siphonariidae (false limpets). They are globally distributed living in temperate to tropical benthic intertidal zones making up a significant component of invertebrate fauna in those regions. There are many species (over ~100) within this genus although the exact amount is unknown due to their large variety in shell morphology.

Distribution

This genus occurs worldwide in most tropical and temperate seas.

China

The coast of China has many species such as Siphonaria atra, Siphonaria floslamellosa, Siphonaria japonica, Siphonaria petasus and Siphonaria sirius.

Korean Peninsula

Siphonaria acmaeoides is known to inhabit the coast of the Korean Peninsula. Many species in the coastal regions of China can also be found here suck as S. japonica and S. sirius. Some species have questionably reported to live in this region given their documented geographic distribution such as Siphonaria coreensis, Siphonaria javanica, Siphonaria laciniosa and Siphonaria rucuana.

A shell of Siphonaria sirius
Three rows of the radula of Siphonaria; c) central tooth l) lateral teeth
Siphonaria gigas Sowerby, 1825. Museum specimens

Ecology

This genus is found in benthic and intertidal habitats. It constitutes a significant component of the macrobenthic invertebrate fauna in intertidal habitats across temperate to tropical regions.

Species

Intertidal fluctuations in the environment gives rise to large amounts variations in their shells making it difficult to identify and describe species only using traditional morphological classification methods. The limited study on the shell morphology of this genus also adds to the difficulty. During the late Pliocene to the Pleistocene epochs around 3.46–1.53 million years ago, this genus underwent a rapid diversification event with the climate likely being an important driver of this diversification event.

According to the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), the following species are included in the genus Siphonaria:

Taxa inquirenda
Species brought into synonymy

References

  1. 1 2 Rosenberg, G.; Gofas, S. (2012). Siphonaria. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=138489 on 2012-07-04
  2. 1 2 3 Zang, Guochen; Wang, Jiahui; Ma, Peizhen; Li, Cui; Chen, Ya; Tang, Zeyu; Wang, Haiyan (2025-01-20). "Identifications of Common Species and Descriptions of Two New Species of Siphonaria (Mollusca: Gastropoda) in China". Biology. 14 (1): 103. doi:10.3390/biology14010103. ISSN 2079-7737. PMC 11762491. PMID 39857333.
  3. 1 2 3 Kim, Yukyung; Park, Jina; Hwang, Ui Wook; Park, Joong-Ki (2025). "Taxonomic review of Korean Siphonaria species (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Siphonariidae)". Biodiversity Data Journal. 13 e139388. doi:10.3897/BDJ.13.e139388. ISSN 1314-2828. PMC 11862827. PMID 40012563.
  4. ↑ WoRMS: Siphonaria