Turritellidae

Turritellidae, with the common name "tower shells" or "tower snails", is a taxonomic family of small- to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the Sorbeoconcha clade.
They are filter feeders; this method of feeding is somewhat unusual among gastropod mollusks, but is very common in bivalves.
Shell description
The shells of turritellid species have whorls that are more convex and their apertures being more circular than it is in the auger shells, which are similarly high-spired. The columella is curved and the thin operculum has many horns.
Anatomy of the soft parts
These snails burrow into mud or sand, with their foots being relatively small.
Taxonomy
Five subfamilies of this family were recognized in the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005):
Turritellinae Lovén, 1847 - synonyms: Zariinae Gray, 1850; Zeacolpini Marwick, 1971; Archimediellidae Starobogatov, 1982; Tachyrhynchinae Golikov, 1986
Orectospirinae Habe, 1955
Pareorinae Finlay & Marwick, 1937
Protominae Marwick, 1957
Vermiculariinae Dall, 1913 - synonym: Pseudomesaliidae mahmoud, 1955 (inv.)
Genera
Genera within this family include:
Turritellinae
Archimediella Sacco, 1895
Banzarecolpus Powell, 1957
Colpospira Donald, 1900
Gazameda Iredale, 1924
Glyptozaria Iredale, 1924
Incatella DeVries, 2007
Maoricolpus Finlay, 1927
Spirocolpus Finlay, 1927
Stiracolpus Finlay, 1926
Tachyrhynchus Mörch, 1868
Turritella Lamarck, 1799 - the type genus of the family, synonyms: Torcula Gray, 1847; Proto Blainville, 1824
subgenus Haustator Montfort, 1810
Zeacolpus Finlay, 1927
Zaria Gray, 1842: synonym of Turritella Lamarck, 1799
Orectospirinae
Orectospira Dall, 1925
Pareorinae
† Batillona Finlay, 1927
Pareora Marwick, 1931
Protominae
Protoma Baird, 1870 - synonym: Protomella Thiele, 1929)
Vermiculariinae
Callostracum E. A. Smith, 1909
Vermicularia Lamarck, 1799
Other
Armatus Golikov, 1986
† Colposigma Finlay & Marwick, 1937
Mesalia Gray, 1847
Neohaustator Ida, 1952
† Palmerella Allmon 1996
† Tropicolpus Marwick, 1931
Palaeontological locations
The Turritellenplatte of Ermingen ("Erminger Turritellenplatte" near Ulm, Germany) is situated in the northern part of the North Alpine Foreland Basin (NAFB) and is of interest for its abundance of Turritella turris gastropod shells within sedimentary deposits. The fauna of the gastropod-rich sandstone reflects mainly towards near-coastal and shallow marine conditions. Petrographical and palaeontological data allow for a correlation with this area and the Burdigalian age (Lower Miocene epoch). Based on the Sr-isotope composition of shark teeth in the area, the age of the area is about 18,5 Ma.
References
Further reading
Mayr H. (1985). A Guide to Fossils. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA. (English translation 1992).
Powell A. W. B. (1979). New Zealand Mollusca, William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand, .
Kiel S. (2003) New taxonomic data for the gastropod fauna of the Umzamba Formation (Santonian–Campanian, South Africa); Cretaceous Research 24 (2003) 449–475
External links
Selachian fauna of Turritellenplatte: Abstract of Baier et al. 2004
Age and Sedimentpetrography of Turritellenplatte: Abstract of Baier 2008
Turritelidae species database
Miocene Gastropods and Biostratigraphy of the Kern River Area, California; United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 642
Gastropod families