Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Spiralia
Cladus: Lophotrochozoa
Phylum: Mollusca
Classis: Gastropoda
Subclassis: Caenogastropoda
Ordo: Littorinimorpha
Superfamilia: Tonnoidea
Familia: Bursidae
Genera (7 + 2†): Aspa – Bufonaria – Bursa – Bursina – Crossata – Marsupina – Tutufa – †Aquitanobursa – †Olssonia
Name
Bursidae Thiele, 1925
References
Thiele, J. 1929: Handbuch der systematischen Weichtierkunde. Erster Band. Erster Teil. Loricata. / Gastropoda. I: Prosobranchia (Vorderkiemer). Stuttgart, Verlag Gustav Fischer. iv + 376 p., 470 fig.
Links
Bursidae in the World Register of Marine Species
Vernacular names
English: Frog shells, frog snails
The Bursidae, common name "frog snails" or "frog shells", are a rather small taxonomic family of large sea snails, marine gastropod predatory snails in the clade Littorinimorpha. [1]
Distribution
Most species in this family occur on rocks or coral reefs in shallow waters of tropical oceans, including the Indo-Pacific, the Caribbean Sea, and other marginal warm seas, but they are also found in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Only a few are found on sandy bottoms of deeper waters of the continental shelf.
Shell description
The thick, ovate to slightly elongated shells are coarsely sculptured, resembling the triton shells of the Ranellidae. The intersection of the spiral ribs and the axial sculpture results in a strong nodulose pattern of more or less round knobs. This warty surface gave them their common name - frog shells. The outer varicose lip is dilated and shows a number of labial plicae, resulting in a toothed lip on the inside. The inner lip is calloused, showing transverse plicae.
The anterior and posterior canals are well developed. The siphonal canal at the anterior end is usually short. The anal canal at the posterior end is a deep slot. The strong axial varices are often in two continuous series per whorl, one down each side of the shell. The nucleus of the corneous operculum is situated either at the anterior end or the mid-inner margin. A periostracum (hairy covering of the outer shell) is usually absent or thin.
Anatomy
The taenioglossate radula has seven teeth in each row: one central tooth, flanked on each side by one lateral and two marginal teeth. The central tooth is saddle-shaped, with long basal limbs, each bearing a cusp-like spur upon its face.
Their eyes are based at the base of their filiform tentacles. The foot is short and thick.
Fertilization is internal. The female snail lays her eggs enclosed in a jelly-like matrix that she sometimes broods with her foot. After hatching, the eggs become free-swimming larvae.
Feeding habits
Frog shells are active predators, and appear to feed on bristle worms (Polychaeta) that they anaesthetize with acidic saliva through their extensible, distally flattened probosces.
Genera
Genera in the family Bursidae include:[2][3][4]
Shells of Aquitanobursa tuberosa (Grateloup, 1833) †; fossil, Aquitaine, France
†Aquitanobursa M. T. Sanders, Merle & Puillandre, 2019
Aspa H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853
Bufonaria Schumacher, 1817
Bursa Roding, 1798
Bursina Oyama 1964 - assigned to Bursidae by Beu in 2005[5]
Crossata Jousseaume, 1881
Marsupina Dall, 1904
† Ranellina - assigned to Bursidae by Palmer and Brann in 1966[6]
Tutufa Jousseaume, 1881
Genera brought into synonymy
Annaperenna Iredale, 1936: synonym of Bursa Röding, 1798
Bechtelia Emerson & Hertlein, 1964 †: synonym of Marsupina Dall, 1904
Buffo Montfort, 1810: synonym of Marsupina Dall, 1904
Bufonariella Thiele, 1929: synonym of Bursa Röding, 1798
Chasmotheca Dall, 1904: synonym of Bufonaria Schumacher, 1817
Colubrellina Fischer, 1884: synonym of Bursa Röding, 1798
Dulcerana Oyama, 1964: synonym of Bursa Röding, 1798
Lampadopsis P. Fischer, 1884: synonym of Bursa Röding, 1798
Lampas Schumacher, 1817: synonym of Tutufa (Tutufella) Beu, 1981
Lampasopsis Jousseaume, 1881: synonym of Bursa Röding, 1798
Pseudobursa Rovereto, 1899: synonym of Bursa Röding, 1798
Tritonoranella Oyama, 1964: synonym of Bursa Röding, 1798
Tutufella Beu, 1981: synonym of Tutufa (Tutufella) Beu, 1981
References
MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Bursidae Thiele, 1925. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=22995 on 2020-08-19
"Bursidae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
Powell A. W. B. (1979) New Zealand Mollusca. William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand. ISBN 0-00-216906-1
Cossignani, Tiziano (1994). Bursidae of the World. Ancona, Italy: L'Informatore Piceno. p. 119. ISBN 88-86070-09-8.
Beu A.G. (2005). "Neogene fossil tonnoidean gastropods of Indonesia". Scripta Geologica. 130: 1–186.
Palmer K. V. & Brann D. C. (1966). "Catalogue of the Paleocene and Eocene Mollusks of the Southern and Eastern United States Part II. Gastropoda". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 218: 471–1057.
Footnotes
Bouchet P. & Rocroi J.-P. (2005) Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families. Malacologia 47(1-2): 1-397.
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