Vermetidae

{{Short description|Family of gastropods}} {{Automatic taxobox | name = Vermetidae | image = Serpulorbis squamigerus.jpg | image_caption = A live individual of ''Thylacodes squamigerus'' in situ | taxon = Vermetidae | authority = Rafinesque | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision = ''See text'' | display_parents= 3 }}

The '''Vermetidae''', the '''worm snails''' or '''worm shells''', are a taxonomic family of small to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Littorinimorpha.<ref name="Bouchet 2005">{{Bouchet 2005}}</ref> The shells of species in the family Vermetidae are extremely irregular, and do not resemble the average snail shell, hence the common name "worm shells" or "worm snails".

These snails usually grow cemented onto a hard surface, or cemented together in colonies.

==Shell description== These snails do not have typical regularly coiled gastropod shells; instead, they have very irregular elongated tubular shells which are moulded to, and cemented to, a surface of attachment such as a rock or another shell. In the adult, the apertural part of the shell is usually free, with the opening directed upward. Some species have an operculum and some do not. Damaged sections of the shell can be sealed off by calcareous septa when necessary.

Some vermetids are solitary, whereas others live in colonies, partially cemented together. The shells of species within this family vary greatly and can sometimes be extremely challenging to identify.

==Comparison with annelid worm tubes== The empty calcareous tubes of certain marine annelid tube worms, for example the Serpulidae, can sometimes be casually misidentified as empty vermetid shells, and ''vice versa''. The difference is that vermetid shells are shiny inside and have three shell layers, whereas the annelid worm tubes are dull inside and have only two shell layers.

==Taxonomy== thumb|Fossil ''Vermetus'' sp.; Nicosia Formation; Pliocene; Cyprus

=== 2005 taxonomy === The Vermetidae were recognized as the only family in the superfamily Vermetoidea in the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005) within the clade Littorinimorpha.

The following two subfamilies were recognized in the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005):<ref name="Bouchet 2005"/>

Family Vermetidae Rafinesque, 1815 *Subfamily Vermetinae Rafinesque, 1815 *Subfamily Dendropomatinae Bandel & Kowalke, 1997

This classification of the Vermetoidea has been somewhat controversial. Studies, based on sperm ultrastructure,<ref name="Healy">{{cite journal | author=J.M. Healy| title=Sperm morphology in ''Serpulorbis'' and ''Dendropoma'' and its relevance to the systematic position of the Vermetidae (Gastropoda)| journal=Journal of Molluscan Studies| year=1988| volume=54| issue=3| pages=295–308| doi=10.1093/mollus/54.3.295}}</ref> and on molecular data<ref name="Colgan">{{cite journal |author1=D. Colgan, W.F. Ponder |author2=P.E. Eggler |name-list-style=amp | title=Gastropod evolutionary rates and phylogenetic relationships assessed using partial 28s rDNA and histone H3 sequences| journal=Zoologica Scripta| year=2000| volume=29| pages=29–63| doi=10.1046/j.1463-6409.2000.00021.x|s2cid=84342267 }}</ref> clearly place it within the clade Littorinimorpha. However, there are still a number of authors<ref name="Bandel">{{cite journal |author1=K. Bandel |author2=T. Kowalke |name-list-style=amp | title=Cretaceous Laxispira and a discussion on the monophyly of vermetids and turritellids (Caenogastropoda, Mollusca)| journal=Geologica et Palaeontologica| year=1997| volume=31| pages=257–274}}</ref><ref name="K. Bandel">{{cite journal | author-link=K. Bandel & S. Kiel| title=Earliest known (Campanian- members of the Vermetidae, Provannidae and Litiopidae (Cerithioidea, Gastropoda) and a discussion on their possible relationships| journal=Mitteilungen aus dem geologisch-Paläontologischen Institut, Universität Hamburg| year=2000| volume=84| pages=209–218}}</ref><ref name="Kowalke">{{cite journal | author=T. Kowalke| title=Bewertung protoconchmorphologischer Daten basaler Caenogastropoda (Cerithiimorpha und Littorinimorpha) hinsichtlich ihrer Systematik und Evolution von der Kreide bis rezent| journal=Berliner Geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen, Ser; e (Palaeobiologie)| year=1998| volume=27| pages=1–121}}</ref> that place it within the superfamily Cerithioidea. The genera ''Campanile'' and ''Thylacodes'' form a clade that is sister to the Cerithioidea, as shown in a study by Lydeard et al. (2002).<ref name="Mydeard">{{cite journal | author=C. Lydeard, W.E. Holznagel, M. Glaubrecht & W.F. Ponder| title=Molecular phylogeny of a circumglobal, diverse gastropod superfamily (Cerithioidea, Mollusca, Caenogastropoda): pushing the deepest phylogenetic limits of mitochondrial LSU r DNA sequences| journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution| year=2002| volume=22| issue=3| pages=399–406| doi=10.1006/mpev.2001.1072| pmid=11884164}}</ref>

=== 2006 taxonomy === Bandel (2006)<ref name="Bandel 2006">Bandel K. (2006). "Families of the Cerithioidea and related superfamilies (Palaeo-Caenogastropoda; Mollusca) from the Triassic to the Recent characterized by protoconch morphology - including the description of new taxa". ''Freiberger Forschungshefte'' C 511: 59-138. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286216692_Families_of_the_Cerithioidea_and_related_superfamilies_Palaeo-Caenogastropoda_Mollusca_from_the_Triassic_to_the_Recent_characterized_by_protoconch_morphology-including_the_description_of_new_taxa].</ref> established a new subfamily Laxispirinae as one of three subfamilies he recognized within the Vermetidae:

*Subfamily Vermetinae Rafinesque, 1815 *Subfamily † Laxispirinae Bandel, 2006<ref name="Bandel 2006"/> *Subfamily Dendropomatinae Bandel & Kowalke, 1997

==Genera== Genera within the family Vermetidae include:

Vermetinae * ''Vermetus'' Daudin, 1800 - type genus<ref>Gofas, S. (2009). ''Vermetus'' Daudin, 1800. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=138652 on 2010-08-05</ref> * ''Cerithiovermetus'' Bandel, 2006<ref>WoRMS (2009). Cerithiovermetus. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=394145 on 2010-08-05</ref>

† Laxispirinae * † ''Laxispira'' Gabb, 1877 - Late Cretaceous, type genus of the subfamily<ref name="Bandel 2006"/>

Dendropomatinae * ''Dendropoma'' Mörch, 1861 - type genus of the subfamily<ref>WoRMS (2009). ''Dendropoma'' Mörch, 1861. In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. (2009) World Marine Mollusca database. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=138649 on 2010-08-05</ref>

Subfamily ? *''Bivonia'' Gray, 1842:<ref>WoRMS (2010). ''Bivonia'' Gray, 1842. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=225183 on 2010-08-05</ref> synonym of ''Dendropoma'' Mörch, 1861 (junior homonym of Bivonia Cocco, 1832 in Crustacea) * ''Ceraesignum'' Golding, Bieler, Rawlings & T. Collins, 2014 * ''Cupolaconcha'' Golding, Bieler, Rawlings & T. M. Collins, 2014 *''Eualetes'' Keen, 1971<ref>WoRMS (2009). ''Eualetes''. Accessed through the World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=397074 on 2010-08-05</ref> * ''Magilina'' Vélain, 1877 *''Novastoa'' Finlay, 1926<ref>WoRMS (2009). ''Novastoa'' Finlay, 1926. Accessed through the World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=205769 on 2010-08-05</ref> *''Petaloconchus'' I. Lea, 1843<ref>WoRMS (2009). ''Petaloconchus'' Lea, 1843. In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. (2009) World Marine Mollusca database. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=138650 on 2010-08-05</ref> *''Spiroglyptus'' Daudin, 1800<ref>[https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=71345 "''Spiroglyptus'' Daudin, 1800"]. ITIS, accessed 6 August 2010.</ref> *''Stephopoma'' Mörch, 1860<ref>WoRMS (2009). ''Stephopoma'' Mörch, 1860. Accessed through the World Register of Marine Species at http://marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=224610 on 2010-08-05</ref> *''Thylacodes'' Guettard, 1770, = ''Serpulorbis'' Sassi, 1827<ref>Bieler, R.; Rosenberg, G. (2015). Thylacodes aotearoicus (J. E. Morton, 1951). In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=598652 on 2015-07-17</ref> * ''Thylaeodus'' Mörch, 1860 *''Tripsycha'' Keen, 1961 * ''Vermitoma'' Kuroda, 1928

==References== {{Reflist|2}}

== External links == {{Commons category|Vermetidae}} * Powell A. W. B., ''New Zealand Mollusca'', William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 {{ISBN|0-00-216906-1}} * R. Tucker Abbott, 1986. ''Seashells of North America'', St. Martin's Press, New York * Vaught, K.C. (1989). ''A classification of the living Mollusca''. American Malacologists: Melbourne, FL (USA). {{ISBN|0-915826-22-4}}. XII, 195 pp.

Category:Vermetidae Category:Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque