| Siphonaria | |
|---|---|
| | |
| SP01 - Siphonaria - 17 mm | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Order: | Siphonariida |
| Superfamily: | Siphonarioidea |
| Family: | Siphonariidae |
| Genus: | Siphonaria Sowerby I, 1823 |
| Type species | |
| Siphonaria sipho G. B. Sowerby I, 1823 | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
Siphonaria is a genus of air-breathing sea snails in the family Siphonariidae (false limpets). They are globally distributed living in temperate to tropical benthic intertidal zones making up a significant component of invertebrate fauna in those regions. There are many species (over ~100) within this genus although the exact amount is unknown due to their large variety in shell morphology. [1]
This genus occurs worldwide in most tropical and temperate seas.
The coast of China has many species such as Siphonaria atra, Siphonaria floslamellosa , Siphonaria japonica , Siphonaria petasus and Siphonariasirius. [2]
Siphonaria acmaeoides is known to inhabit the coast of the Korean Peninsula. Many species in the coastal regions of China can also be found here suck as S. japonica and S. sirius. Some species have questionably reported to live in this region given their documented geographic distribution such as Siphonaria coreensis, Siphonaria javanica, Siphonaria laciniosa and Siphonaria rucuana . [3]
This genus is found in benthic and intertidal habitats. It constitutes a significant component of the macrobenthic invertebrate fauna in intertidal habitats across temperate to tropical regions. [2] [3]
Intertidal fluctuations in the environment gives rise to large amounts variations in their shells making it difficult to identify and describe species only using traditional morphological classification methods. The limited study on the shell morphology of this genus also adds to the difficulty. [3] During the late Pliocene to the Pleistocene epochs around 3.46-1.53 million years ago, this genus underwent a rapid diversification event with the climate likely being an important driver of this diversification event. [2]
According to the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), the following species are included in the genus Siphonaria [4]