Aforia

Aforia circinata, photographed by Jan Delsing.

Belongs within: Conoidea.

Aforia is a genus of large conoid gastropods with a primarily bipolar distribution, being found in the North Pacific and circumpolar in the Southern Hemisphere (Powell 1966).

Characters (from Powell 1966): Shell large to very large, up to 90 mm, thin, elongate-fusiform, with tall spire and long, slightly flexed and recurved unnotched anterior canal. Protoconch slender, multispiral. Adult whorls conspicuously medially carinated, surface sculptured on lower half and whorls with numerous flat-topped spral cords, defined by incised lines; shoulder slope smooth except for incremental growth threads marking successive positions of sinus. Sinus deep, U-shaped, with rounded apex, occupying lower half of shoulder slope. Whole shell covered by thin shining buff-coloured periostracum. Operculum corneous, varying in form from roughly ovate to quadrate, nucleus terminal or subterminal, incurved in most instances. Radula consisting of large broad-based unicuspid central, no laterals, and pair of modified wishbone-type marginal, consisiting of massive simple pointed tooth with distal basal limb severed and superimposed.

<==Aforia Dall 1889 [incl. Danilacarina Bozzetti 1997, Irenosyrinx Dall 1908] BK11
    |--A. (Aforia) BK11
    |    |--*A. (A.) circinata (Dall 1873) (see below for synonymy) P66
    |    |    |--A. c. circinata P66
    |    |    `--A. c. minatoensis (Otuka 1949) [=Leucosyrinx (Aforia) minatoensis] P66
    |    `--A. (A.) otohimei (Ozaki 1958) [=Leucosyrinx (A.) otohimei] P66
    |--A. (Abyssaforia Sysoev & Kantor 1987) BK11
    |--A. (Dallaforia Sysoev & Kanto 1987) BK11
    `--A. (Steiraxis Dall 1896) BK11
         `--‘Pleurotoma’ (*S.) aulaca Dall 1895 P66

Aforia incertae sedis:
  A. borgenae (Tegland 1933) [=Cryptogemma borgenae] P66
  A. campbelli Durham 1944 P66
  A. chosenensis Bartsch 1945 P66
  A. clallamensis (Weaver 1916) [=Turris clallamensis] P66
  A. clara (Martens 1880) [=Pleurotoma clara] P66
  A. crebristriata (Dall 1908) [=Irenosyrinx crebristriata] P66
  A. goniodes (Watson 1881) [=Pleurotoma (Surcula) goniodes] P66
  A. goodei (Dall 1889) [=Leucosyrinx goodei, Pleurotoma (*Irenosyrinx) goodei] P66
    |--A. g. goodei P66
    |--‘Leucosyrinx persimilis’ blanca Dall 1919 O27
    |--‘Leucosyrinx persimilis’ leonis Dall 1908 O27
    `--A. g. persimilis (Dall 1889) [=Leucosyrinx goodei persimilis] P66
  A. japonica P66
  A. magnifica (Strebel 1908) [=Surcula magnifica] P66
  A. marrowstonensis (Durham 1944) [=Irenosyrinx marrowstonensis] P66
  A. multispiralis Dell 1990 BK11
  A. okhotskensis Bartsch 1945 P66
  ‘Irenosyrinx’ pacifica Dall 1908 O27
  A. staminea (Watson 1881) [=Pleurotoma (Surcula) staminea] P66
  A. tasmanica Sysoev & Kantor 1988 P95
  A. trilix (Watson 1881) [=Pleurotoma (Surcula) trilix] P66

*Aforia (Aforia) circinata (Dall 1873) [=Pleurotoma circinata; incl. A. diomedea Bartsch 1945, Turricula (Surcula) hondoana Dall 1925, Pleurotomella insignis Jeffreys 1883, Aforia okhotskensis Bartsch 1945, A. sakhalinensis Bartsch 1945] P66

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[BK11] Bouchet, P., Y. I. Kantor, A. Sysoev & N. Puillandre. 2011. A new operational classification of the Conoidea (Gastropoda). Journal of Molluscan Studies 77: 273–308.

[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).

[P95] Ponder, W. F. 1995. Book review: Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods. Parts 1 and 2. Molluscan Research 16: 97–102.

[P66] Powell, A. W. B. 1966. The molluscan families Speightiidae and Turridae: an evaluation of the valid taxa, both Recent and fossil, with lists of characteristic species. Bulletin of the Auckland Institute and Museum 5: 1–184, pls 1–23.