Fasciolaria

Tulip shell, Fasciolaria
Apertural view of the shell of a Fasciolaria tulipa.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
(unranked):	clade Caenogastropoda clade Hypsogastropoda clade Neogastropoda
Superfamily:	Buccinoidea
Family:	Fasciolariidae
Subfamily:	Fasciolariinae
Genus:	Fasciolaria Lamarck, 1799
Type species
Murex tulipa, Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms
Cinctura Hollister, 1957 (synonym or subgenus of Fasciolaria.) Iaeranea Rafinesque, 1815 Tarantinaea Monterosato, 1917

Tulip snail, or Tulip shell is the common name for two or three species of large, predatory, subtropical and tropical sea snails from the Western Atlantic. These species are in the genus Fasciolaria. They are marine gastropod mollusks in the family Fasciolariidae, the spindle shells, tulip shells and their allies.

The word "tulip" describes the overall shape of the shells of these species, which is like that of a closed tulip flower.

Species

According to the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), the following species with a valid name are included within the genus Fasciolaria :

• Fasciolaria agatha Simone & Abbate, 2005
• Fasciolaria branhamae Rehder & Abbott, 1951
• Fasciolaria bullisi Lyons, 1972
• Fasciolaria curvirostris (Wood, 1828)
• Fasciolaria filamentosa Lamarck, 1822
• Fasciolaria glabra Dunker, 1882
• Fasciolaria hunteria (G. Perry, 1811)
• Fasciolaria lignaria (Linnaeus, 1758)
• Fasciolaria lilium G. Fischer von Waldheim, 1807 - the banded tulip
• Fasciolaria magna (Anton, 1838)
• Fasciolaria rutila Watson, 1882
• Fasciolaria sulcata (Anton, 1838)
• Fasciolaria tephrina De Souza, 2002
• Fasciolaria thersites (Reeve, 1847)
• Fasciolaria tuberculata (Anton, 1838)
• Fasciolaria tulipa (Linnaeus, 1758) - the true tulip
  • Fasciolaria tulipa hollisteri Weisbord, 1962 [1], this species has a channeled suture [2]

References

• National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Seashells
• Malacolog info on Fasciolaria at: [3]