Bulla

Bulla ampulla, copyright Erwin Köhler.

Belongs within: Cephalaspidea.

Bulla is a genus of relatively large bubble snails with a well-developed shell into which the animal is able to withdraw completely.

Characters (from Malaquias & Reid 2008): Shell ovoid, solid, mottled in drab colours. Spire involute. Aperture slightly longer than shell height. Cephalic shield produced antero-laterally, forming pair of siphon-like tentacles. Penis invaginable, formed by a long duct continuous with coiled prostate, ending in a narrow terminal blind caecum; all structures enclosed in thick muscular sheath, contiguous with a long tubular vestibular area; retractor muscle attached to proximal area of penial sheath. Anterior gonoduct slightly helicoid; fertilization chamber rounded, located at mid-length; seminal receptacle placed antero-ventrally, attached to wall of common genital duct. Rachidian tooth broad, denticulate, with central cusp usually smaller. Large gap between rachidian and laterals. Inner lateral claw-shaped, usually symmetrical with major central cusp and 3–4 lateral cusps on either side. Outer lateral with smooth vertical internal edge and denticulate convex outer edge with 4–10 cusps; base with denticle. Second outer lateral teeth reduced, plate-like. Gizzard plates uncalcified, smooth, with longitudinal keel.

<==Bulla Linnaeus 1758 [=Bullaria Rafinesque 1815, Vesica Swainson 1840] BR05
    |--*B. ampulla Linnaeus 1758 BR05 [=*Bullaria ampulla O27, *Vesica ampulla BR05]
    |--B. adamsi Menke 1850 [=Bullaria adamsi] H09
    |--B. ambigua Gmelin 1791 F27b
    |--B. ‘ambigua’ d’Orbigny 1842 non Gmelin 1791 F27b
    |--‘Bullaria’ australis F27a
    |--‘Bullaria’ botanica Hedley 1918 F27a
    |--B. elongata Phillips 1835 F27b
    |--‘Bullaria’ gouldiana Pilsbry 1893 O27
    |--B. incincta Mighels 1844 J49
    |--B. occulta Mighels & Adams 1842 J49
    |--B. pertenius Mighels 1843 J49
    |--B. punctostriata Mighels & Adams 1842 J49
    |--B. punctulata Adams 1850 [=Bullaria punctulata] H09
    |--‘Bullaria’ quoyana Dall 1919 [=Bulla quoyi Adams 1850 non Gray 1843] O27
    |--B. quoyi Gray 1843 [=Bullaria quoyi] F27a
    |--B. striata C60
    |--‘Bullaria’ tenuissima M54
    `--B. voluta Gmelin 1791 F27b

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[BR05] Bouchet, P., & J.-P. Rocroi. 2005. Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families. Malacologia 47 (1–2): 1–397.

[C60] Cox, L. R. 1960. Gastropoda: general characteristics of Gastropoda. In: Moore, R. C. (ed.) Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology pt I. Mollusca 1: Mollusca—General Features, Scaphopoda, Amphineura, Monoplacophora, Gastropoda—General Features, Archaeogastropoda and some (mainly Paleozoic) Caenogastropoda and Opisthobranchia pp. I84–I169. Geological Society of America, and University of Kansas Press.

[F27a] Finlay, H. J. 1927a. A further commentary on New Zealand molluscan systematics. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 57: 320–485.

[F27b] Finlay, H. J. 1927b. New specific names for austral Mollusca. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 57: 488–533.

[H09] Hedley, C. 1909. The Marine Fauna of Queensland: Address by the President of Section D. Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science: Brisbane.

[J49] Johnson, R. I. 1949. Jesse Wedgwood Mighels with a bibliography and a catalogue of his species. Occasional Papers on Mollusks 1 (14): 213–231.

[M54] Macpherson, J. H. 1954. Molluscs (sea shells and snails). In: Willis, J. M. (ed.) The Archipelago of the Recherche pp. 55–63. Australian Geographical Society: Melbourne.

Malaquias, M. A. E., & D. G. Reid. 2008. Systematic revision of the living species of Bullidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Cephalaspidea), with a molecular phylogenetic analysis. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 153 (3): 453–543.

[O27] Oldroyd, I. S. 1927. The Marine Shells of the West Coast of North America vol. II pt I. Stanford University Press: Stanford University (California).