Conoidea

Strictispira paxillus, from the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle.

Belongs within: Neogastropoda.
Contains: Speightiidae, Cryptoconidae, Drilliidae, Pseudomelatomidae, Clavatulidae, Horaiclavidae, Lucerapax, Terebridae, Turridae, Cochlespiridae, Conidae, Clathurellidae, Conorbidae, Borsoniidae, Mangeliidae, Raphitomidae, Mitromorphidae.

The Conoidea are a diverse clade of predatory marine gastropods, many of which have the radula modified for the delivery of venom (hence the alternative name sometimes used for the group of Toxoglossa). With the exceptions of the derived families Conidae and Terebridae, most of the externally less differentiated members of the Conoidea have been classified in the past into a broad family Turridae, now divided on phylogenetic grounds between several families. The Strictispiridae are a small group of medium-sized, claviform conoids with a radula bearing a pair of solid, awl-shaped marginal teeth but no rachidian. In at least one species, Strictispira paxillus, the venom gland is absent and there is a very large and powerful odontophore (Bouchet et al. 2011). The West Pacific genus Bouchetispira has recently been elevated to its own family. Johnwyattia johnwyatti is a fossil species from the Palaeocene of Colombia of uncertain affinities to the Conoidea (Bouchet et al. 2017).

Characters (from Simone 2011): Shell normally thick-walled. Odontophore and midesophagus reduced. Esophageal (venom) gland elongated, with muscular bulb at distal end, inserted close to nerve ring. Rinchodeal wall weakly muscular and not exteriorized.

Conoidea [Conacea, Conida, Coniformes, Coniformii, Conoidei, Toxifera, Toxoglossa, Turrina, Turroidea, Turroidei]
    |--+--+--+--Drilliidae PK11
    |  |  |  `--Pseudomelatomidae PK11
    |  |  `--+--+--Clavatulidae PK11
    |  |     |  `--Horaiclavidae PK11
    |  |     `--+--Lucerapex PK11
    |  |        `--+--Terebridae PK11
    |  |           `--Turridae PK11
    |  `--Cochlespiridae PK11
    `--+--+--Conidae PK11
       |  |--Clathurellidae PK11
       |  `--+--Conorbidae PK11
       |     `--Borsoniidae PK11
       `--+--+--Mangeliidae PK11
          |  `--Raphitomidae PK11
          `--Mitromorphidae PK11

Conoidea incertae sedis:
  Speightiidae BK11
  Johnwyattia Serna 1979 BR05 [Johnwyattiidae BK11]
    `--*J. johnwyatti Serna 1979 BR17
  Strictispiridae [Strictispirinae] PK11
    |--Cleospira McLean 1971 BK11
    `--Strictispira McLean 1971 BK11
         |--*S. ericana (Hertlein & Strong 1951) [=Crassispira ericana] BR17
         |--S. paxillus (Reeve 1845) BK11
         |--S. solida (Adams 1850) BK11
         `--S. stillmani Shasky 1971 BC01
  Caenodagreutes K96
  Bouchetispira Kantor, Strong & Puillandre 2012 [Bouchetispiridae] BR17
    `--*B. vitrea Kantor, Strong & Puillandre 2012 BR17
  Cryptoconidae BR17

*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.

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

[BR17] Bouchet, P., J.-P. Rocroi, B. Hausdorf, A. Kaim, Y. Kano, A. Nützel, P. Parkhaev, M. Schrödl & E. E. Strong. 2017. Revised classification, nomenclator and typification of gastropod and monoplacophoran families. Malacologia 61 (1–2): 1–526.

[BC01] Boyko, C. B., & J. R. Cordeiro. 2001. Catalog of Recent type specimens in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History. V. Mollusca, part 2 (class Gastropoda [exclusive of Opisthobranchia and Pulmonata], with supplements to Gastropoda [Opisthobranchia], and Bivalvia). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 262: 1–170.

[K96] Kantor, Y. I. 1996. Phylogeny and relationships of Neogastropoda. In: Taylor, J. D. (ed.) Origin and Evolutionary Radiation of the Mollusca pp. 221–230. Oxford University Press: Oxford.

[PK11] Puillandre, N., Y. I. Kantor, A. Sysoev, A. Couloux, C. Meyer, T. Rawlings, J. A. Todd & P. Bouchet. 2011. The dragon tamed? A molecular phylogeny of the Conoidea (Gastropoda). Journal of Molluscan Studies 77: 259–272.

Last updated: 2 October 2021.