Olive snail: Difference between revisions

Olive shell
	Lettered olive, Oliva sayana
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Orthogastropoda
Superorder:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Sorbeoconcha
Suborder:	Hypsogastropoda
Infraorder:	Neogastropoda
Family:	Olividae; Latreille, 1825
Genera
	See text.

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Olive shells, olive snails, or olives, scientific name Olividae, are a family of minute to large predatory sea snails with smooth, shiny, oval-shaped shells. The shells often show various muted but attractive colors, and may be patterned also.

Scientifically speaking, these animals are marine gastropod molluscs in the family Olividae, within the order Sorbeoconcha, specifically the infraorder Neogastropoda.

Distribution

Olive snails are found worldwide, in subtropical and tropical seas and oceans.

Habitat

These snails are found on sandy substrates intertidally and subtidally.

Life habits

The olive snails are all carnivorous sand-burrowers. They feeding mostly on bivalves and carrion and are known as some of the fastest burrowers among snails. They secrete a mucus similar to that of the Muricidae, from which a purple dye can be made.

Shell description

Physically the shells are oval and cylindrical in shape. They have a well-developed stepped spire. Olive shells have a siphonal notch at the posterior end of the aperture from which protudes the siphon.

The shell surface is extremely glossy because in life the mantle almost always covers the shell.^[1]^[2]

The fossil record

Olive Shells first appeared during the Campanian.^[3]

Human use

Olive shells are popular with shell collectors, and are also often made into jewellry and other decorative items.

The shell of the lettered olive, Oliva sayana, is the state shell of South Carolina in the United States.

Genera

Variable dwarf olive, Olivella mutica

Variable dwarf olive, Olivella mutica
Lettered olive, Oliva sayana
Brown olive, Oliva reticularis bifasciata

Brown olive, Oliva reticularis bifasciata

Notes

^ Washington State University Tri-Cities Natural History Museum (2001). Family: Olividae (Olive Shells). Retrieved on 12 July 2006.
^ Vermeij, Geerat J (3 April 1995). A Natural History of Shells. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-00167-7. pps. 89, 100, 114.
^ Vermeij, Geerat J (1 September 1993). Evolution and Escalation. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-00080-8. p.182.

[1] Washington State University Tri-Cities Natural History Museum (2001). Family: Olividae (Olive Shells). Retrieved on 12 July 2006.

[2] Vermeij, Geerat J (3 April 1995). A Natural History of Shells. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-00167-7. pps. 89, 100, 114.

[3] Vermeij, Geerat J (1 September 1993). Evolution and Escalation. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-00080-8. p.182.

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@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 }}
-'''Olive shells''', '''olive snails''', or '''olives''', scientific name '''Olividae''', are a group of minute to large [[predatory]] sea [[snail]]s with smooth, shiny, oval-shaped shells. The shells often show various muted but attractive colors, and may be patterned also.
+'''Olive shells''', '''olive snails''', or '''olives''', scientific name '''Olividae''', are a [[family (biology)|family]] of minute to large [[predatory]] sea [[snail]]s with smooth, shiny, oval-shaped shells. The shells often show various muted but attractive colors, and may be patterned also.
 Scientifically speaking, these animals are [[Marine (ocean)|marine]] [[gastropod]] [[mollusc]]s in the [[family (biology)|family]] [[Olividae]], within the order [[Sorbeoconcha]], specifically the infraorder [[Neogastropoda]].
@@ Line 29: / Line 29: @@
 ==Life habits==
-The Olive snails are all [[carnivorous]] sand-burrowers. They feeding mostly on [[bivalve]]s and [[carrion]] and are known as some of the fastest burrowers among snails.  They secrete a mucus similar to that of the [[Muricidae]], from which a purple dye can be made.
+The olive snails are all [[carnivorous]] sand-burrowers. They feeding mostly on [[bivalve]]s and [[carrion]] and are known as some of the fastest burrowers among snails.  They secrete a mucus similar to that of the [[Muricidae]], from which a purple dye can be made.
 ==Shell description==
@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 Olive shells are popular with [[Conchology|shell collectors]], and are also often made into jewellry and other decorative items.
-The shell of the [[lettered olive]], ''Oliva sayana'', is the [[List of U.S. state shells|state shell]] of [[South Carolina]] in the [[United States]].
+The shell of the [[lettered olive]], ''[[Oliva sayana]]'', is the [[List of U.S. state shells|state shell]] of [[South Carolina]] in the [[United States]].
 ==Genera==