Muricoidea 856756 206300871 2008-04-17T18:40:06Z Kaarel 957166 [[Category:Sorbeoconcha]] {{Taxobox | name = Muricoidea | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | subregnum = Eumetazoa | superphylum = Protostomia | phylum = [[Mollusca]] | classis = [[Gastropoda]] | subclassis = [[Orthogastropoda]] | superordo = [[Caenogastropoda]] | ordo = [[Sorbeoconcha]] | subordo = [[Hypsogastropoda]] | infraordo = [[Neogastropoda]] | superfamilia = '''Muricoidea''' | superfamilia_authority = [[Rafinesque]], 1815 | subdivision_ranks = Families | subdivision = See text. }} '''Muricoidea''' is a [[taxonomic]] [[superfamily]] of [[predatory]] sea [[snail]]s, [[marine (ocean)|marine]] [[gastropod]] [[mollusk]]s in the infraorder Neogastropoda. This superfamily includes the murex snails, the chank snails, the true [[whelk]]s, the dove snails, the crown conchs and busycon whelks, the spindle and tulip snails, the volutes and olives, the harp snails, the margin snails, the miters, and others. ==Shell description== It is hard to generalize about such a diverse group, but the [[gastropod shell|shell]] of these snails has an oval [[Aperture (mollusc)|aperture]], and a noticeable [[siphonal canal]]. ==The fossil record== The muricoids first appeared during the [[Cretaceous|Cretaceous period]]. ==Families within the superfamily Muricoidea== * ''[[Babyloniidae]]'' <small>T. Kuroda et al., 1971</small> * ''[[Costellariidae]]'' <small>McDonald, 1860</small> * ''[[Cystiscidae]]'' <small>Stimpson, 1865</small> * ''[[Harpidae]]'' <small>Bronn, 1840</small> * ''[[Marginellidae]]'' <small>Fleming, 1828</small> * ''[[Mitridae]]'' <small>[[Swainson]], 1829</small> * ''[[Muricidae]]'' <small>[[Rafinesque]], 1815</small> * ''†[[Pholidotomidae]]'' <small>Cossmann, 1896</small> * ''[[Pleioptygmatidae]]'' <small>Quinn, 1989</small> * ''[[Strepsiduridae]]'' <small>Cossman, 1901</small> * ''[[Turbinellidae]]'' <small>[[Swainson]], 1835</small> * ''[[Volutidae]]'' <small>[[Rafinesque]], 1815</small> * ''[[Volutomitridae]]'' <small>Gray, 1854</small> ==References== * {{aut|Bouchet, Philippe & Jean-Pierre Rocroi}} 2005. Classification and Nomenclator of Gastropod Families. ''Malacologia 47(1-2)'': 1-397. * {{aut|Ponder, WF & DR Lindberg}} 1997. Towards a phylogeny of gastropod molluscs: an analysis using morphological characters. ''Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 119(2)'': 83-265. [[Category:Sorbeoconcha]] {{Sorbeoconcha-stub}}