Volutopsius

Volutopsius fragilis, copyright Jacksonville Shell Club.

Belongs within: Buccinidae.

Volutopsius is a genus of whelks found in boreal and Arctic oceans (Oldroyd 1927).

Characters (from Oldroyd 1927): Shell large, frequently rude or irregular, with last whorl largest, covered by thin, inconspicuous, more or less dehiscent periostracum; spire short, blunt, beginning with relatively large, smooth, bulbous nucleus; sculpture variable, smooth, spirally striate or with indistinct wave-like, axially directed prominences or with feeble axial ribs; aperture ample; canal short, wide, hardly differentiated. Operculum short-ovate or rounded-quadrate, nucleus at right anterior corner.

<==Volutopsius Mörch 1857 [Volutopsiinae, Volutopsiini] BR05
    |--*V. largillierti [=Fusus largillierti] O27
    |--V. attenuatus Dall 1874 O27
    |--V. beringi Middendorff 1846 O27
    |    |--V. b. beringi O27
    |    `--V. b. kobelti Dall 1902 O27
    |--V. callorhinus Dall 1877 O27
    |    |--V. c. callorhinus O27
    |    `--V. c. stejnegeri Dall 1884 O27
    |--V. castaneus Mörch 1858 O27
    |--V. filosus Dall 1919 O27
    |--V. fragilis Dall 1891 O27
    |--V. melonis Dall 1891 O27
    |--V. middendorffii (Dall 1891) [=Strombella middendorffii] O27
    |--V. regularis Dall 1878 [=Volutopsis beringi regularis] O27
    |--V. rotundus Dall 1919 O27
    |--V. simplex Dall 1907 O27
    |--V. stefanssoni Dall 1919 O27
    `--V. trophonius Dall 1902 O27

*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.

[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).