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Olivoidea Latreille, 1825
Nomenclature
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Subclass: CaenogastropodaOrder: Neogastropoda
Superfamily:
Olivoidea Latreille, 1825
Usage:
valid
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Synonyms: 1
SUMMARY
A superfamily of comparatively large to small neogastropods. All species are scavengers or predators, occurring from tidal environments to great depths.
The earliest records of the superfamily date back to the Late Cretaceous.
After the recent study by Kantor et al. (2017), the Olivoidea are nowadays considered to contain five families, the Olividae, the Ancillariidae, the Benthobiidae, the Bellolividae and the Pseudolividae. The former family Olivellidae is now considered to be a subfamily of the Olividae (Olivellinae). The main shell characters and present day distribution are summarised below:
| Characters | Present distribution | |
|---|---|---|
| Olividae | Operculum present (Calyptolivinae, some Olivellinae) or absent (Agaroniinae, Olivinae, some Olivellinae). Periostracum absent. Narrow filament channel present (overlaid by primary callus in Calyptoliva). | Worldwide, generally in tropical and warm-temperate waters, with only few species in cold-temperate waters at high latitudes. Generally tidal to shallow subtidal, with some species at depths > 100 m. |
| Pseudolividae | Operculum present. Periostracum present.. Primary spire callus limited to inner lip. Suture adpressed or broadly channelled (Zemira). | Tropical Atlantic realm (Gulf of Guinea province); genera Luizia, Pseudoliva and Fulmentum. Temperate Southern Africa realm (Agulhas province); genus Fulmentum. Temperate Australasia realm (temperate waters of east central and southeast Australia); genus Zemira. |
| Bellolividae | Operculum present. Periostracum absent. Primary spire callus absent. Narrow filament channel present, opened on all spire whorls. | Western Indo-Pacific realm. Central Indo-Pacific realm. Eastern Indo-Pacific realm. Tropical Atlantic realm (Tropical Northwestern Atlantic province). From shallow subtidal to lower slope depths. |
| Ancillariidae | Operculum present. Periostracum absent. Primary spire callus well defined. Suture always overlaid by the callus. | Circum-tropical and warm-temperate waters but favouring regions with upwelling, nutrient-rich, colder water. Seemingly lacking in the Tropical Eastern Pacific realm. Micrancilla Maxwell, 1992, between the Falklands and South Georgia (Temperate South America realm, Cold-temperate Magellanic province). From tidal to abyssal depths. |
| Benthobiidae | Operculum present. Periostracum present. Primary spire callus limited to inner lip. Suture adpressed. | Bathyal (400-800 m): SW Pacific (genus Fusulculus). Abyssal: North Atlantic, SE Brazil, Tasman Basin, Australia, Coral Sea, Madagascar (genus Benthobia). |
Please refer to the ZOOGEOGRAPHY tab for overviews of all species found in each marine zoogeographic province.