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Taxon Pages
Americoliva Petuch, 2013
Nomenclature
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Synonyms: 2
SUMMARY
A genus-group taxon for the mainly tropical West African (Tropical Atlantic realm. Gulf of Guinea province), Caribbean (Tropical Atlantic realm. Tropical Northwestern Atlantic province) and Panamic (Tropical Eastern Pacific realm. Tropical East Pacific province) species formerly included in Strephona Mörch, 1852 (which is a junior homonym).Type species is Oliva sayana Ravenel, 1834.
The genus may be viewed as a large jigsaw puzzle at present. It probably originated rather recently Middle-(Late Miocene?) and the pieces of the puzzle are distributed over four dimensions (longitude, latiutude, bathymetry, time). Species distribution only becomes clear after inverstigation of large series of specimens from various localities. At some localities, two or more species occurr syntopically, whereas at other localities a species may be the only one occurring there.
| Region | Distribution |
|---|---|
| Eastern Atlantic species | Tropical Atlantic realm. Gulf of Guinea province (Mauritania to Angola). West African Transition province (Cabo Verde). |
| Western Atlantic species | Temperate Northern Atlantic realm. Warm Temperate Northwest Atlantic province (Southeastern USA). Tropical Atlantic realm. Tropical Northwestern Atlantic province (Entire Caribbean). Temperate South America realm. Warm Temperate Southwestern Atlantic province (Brazil). |
| Eastern Pacific species | Tropical Eastern Pacific realm. Tropical East Pacific province (Northern Sea of Cortez, Mexico to Peru) |