{{short description|Genus of sea snails}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Oxystele tigrina 002.jpg | image_caption = ''Oxystele tigrina'' | display_parents = 2 | taxon = Oxystele | authority =Philippi, 1847 <ref>Philippi, Zeitschr. f Mal., 1847, p. 19</ref> | type_species = ''Trochus merula'' | type_species_authority = Dillwyn, 1817 }}

'''''Oxystele''''' is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Trochidae, the top snails.<ref name="WoRMS">{{WRMS species|204998|''Oxystele'' Philippi, 1847||2 July 2011}}</ref> Although previously suggested as a subgenus of ''Diloma'',<ref name="Heller 1991">{{cite journal |last1=Heller |first1=Joseph |last2=Dempster |first2=Yvonne |title=Detection of two coexisting species of ''Oxystele'' (Gastropoda: Trochidae) by morphological and electrophoretic analyses |journal=Journal of Zoology |date=1991 |volume=223 |issue=3 |pages=395–418 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.1991.tb04773.x}}</ref> genetic analysis has shown it to be more appropriate as its own genus.<ref name="Donald 2005">{{cite journal |last1=Donald |first1=Kirsten M. |last2=Kennedy |first2=Martyn |last3=Spencer |first3=Hamish G. |title=The phylogeny and taxonomy of austral monodontine topshells (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Trochidae), inferred from DNA sequences |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |date=2005 |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=474–483 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2005.04.011}}</ref>

==Description== The depressed conical shell is dark or variegated in color. The large aperture is oblique. The concave columella is arcuate, thin-edged, perfectly simple and curved below. It is above spread over the umbilical area as a rounded, well-defined pad of callus.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/manualofconcholo111tryo Tryon (1889), Manual of Conchology XI, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia]</ref>

Patterns of the variegated shell color within the genus ''Oxystele'' are shown in the image : A–C ''Oxystele variegata'' from Namibia, 5&nbsp;km north of Swakopmund, diameter 22.2&nbsp;mm (NMSA E6038) D–F ''Oxystele impervia'' from the Western Cape, Groen Rivier, diameter 22.3&nbsp;mm (NMSA E7353) G–I ''Oxystele'' sp. from the Eastern Cape, Tsitsikamma National Park, diameter 16.5&nbsp;mm (HVDBM058-10, NMSA W7371); the colour pattern of these specimens suggests ''Oxystele variegata'', but these specimens group within the unit of ''Oxystele impervia'' J–L ''Oxystele'' sp. from the Northern Cape, Noup, diameter 18.0&nbsp;mm (HVDBM185-10, NMSA W7608); the colour pattern suggests ''Oxystele impervia'', but they group with ''Oxystele variegata''

==Distribution== These marine species occur off South Africa and Japan.

==Species== thumb|right|''Oxystele burdigalensis'' Cossmann & Peyrot 1916, a fossil species from the Miocene of France right|thumb|Patterns of shell color within the genus Oxystele Phylogram (weighted maximum parsimony based on 16S, COI and actin sequence data) of the species in the genus ''Oxystele'':<ref name="Donald 2005" />

{{clade| style=font-size:85%;line-height:85%; |label1='''Oxystele''' |1={{clade |1={{clade |1=''O. tigrina'' <small>(Anton, 1839)</small><ref>{{WRMS species|225143|''Oxystele tigrina'' (Anton, 1839)||1 May 2010}}</ref> |2=''O. sinensis'' <small>(Gmelin, 1791)</small><ref>{{WRMS species|225723|''Oxystele sinensis'' (Gmelin, 1791)||1 May 2010}}</ref> }} |2={{clade |1=''O. tabularis'' <small>(Krauss, 1848)</small><ref>{{WRMS species|216321|''Oxystele tabularis'' (Krauss, 1848)||1 May 2010}}</ref> |2={{clade |1=''O. impervia'' <small>(Menke, 1843)</small><ref>{{WRMS species|225140|''Oxystele impervia'' (Menke, 1843)||1 May 2010}}</ref> |2=''O. antoni'' <small>(Anton, 1839)</small><ref>{{WRMS species|225139|''Oxystele variegata'' (Anton, 1839)||1 May 2010}}</ref> }} }} }} }}

Other species in the genus not included in this tree are:

* ''Oxystele fulgurata'' <small>(Philippi, 1848)</small> * ''Oxystele merula'' <small>(Dillwyn, 1817)</small>

Species brought into synonymy: * ''Oxystele capensis'' <small>(Gmelin, 1791)</small>: synonym of ''Oxystele sinensis'' <small>(Gmelin, 1791)</small> * ''Oxystele depressa'' <small>Granata-Grillo, 1877</small>: synonym of ''Tomura depressa'' <small>(Granata-Grillo, 1877)</small> * ''Oxystele impervius'' <small>Menke, Schwarz, 1910</small>: synonym of ''Oxystele variegata'' <small>(Anton, 1838)</small> * ''Oxystele inflata'' <small>Turton, 1932</small>: synonym of ''Oxystele sinensis'' <small>(Gmelin, 1791)</small> * ''Oxystele romettensis'' <small>Granata-Grillo, 1877</small>: synonym of ''Cirsonella romettensis'' <small>(Granata-Grillo, 1877)</small> * ''Oxystele sagittifera'' <small>Lamarck, Smith, 1903</small>: synonym of ''Oxystele variegata'' <small>(Anton, 1838)</small> * ''Oxystele sagittifera'' var. ''perdix'' <small>Koch in Turton, 1932</small>: synonym of ''Oxystele tigrina'' <small>(Anton, 1838)</small> * ''Oxystele sagittifera'' var. ''rufanensis'' <small>Turton, 1932</small>: synonym of ''Oxystele variegata'' <small>(Anton, 1838)</small> * ''Oxystele tabularis'' var. ''pulchra'' <small>Turton, 1932</small>: synonym of ''Oxystele variegata'' <small>(Anton, 1838)</small> * ''Oxystele tigrinus'' <small>Turton 1932</small>: synonym of ''Oxystele tigrina'' <small>(Anton, 1838)</small> * ''Oxystele variegata'' <small>(Anton, 1838)</small> accepted as ''Oxystele antoni'' <small>D. G. Herbert, 2015</small><ref> MolluscaBase eds. (2023). MolluscaBase. ''Oxystele'' R. A. Philippi, 1847. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=204998 on 2023-10-28 </ref> * ''Oxystele zonata'' <small>Wood, Sowerby, 1892</small>: synonym of ''Gibbula zonata'' <small>(Wood, 1828)</small>

==References== {{Reflist}} * Williams S.T., Donald K.M., Spencer H.G. & Nakano T. (2010) ''Molecular systematics of the marine gastropod families Trochidae and Calliostomatidae (Mollusca: Superfamily Trochoidea)''. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 54:783-809

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Category:Oxystele Category:Trochidae Category:Taxa named by Rodolfo Amando Philippi Category:Gastropod genera