Mitra (gastropod)

Mitra
	A drawing of a live individual of Mitra mitra showing its long proboscis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Family:	Mitridae
Subfamily:	Mitrinae
Genus:	Mitra; Lamarck, 1798
Type species
	Mitra mitra (Linnaeus, 1758);
Species
	See text.
Synonyms
	Mitra (Mitra) Lamarck, 1798; Mitra (Papalaria) Dall, 1915; Mitra (Sohlia) Cernohorsky, 1970; Mitraria Rafinesque, 1815 (established, without diagnosis or included species, as a substitute name for Mitra Lamarck, 1798); Tiarella Swainson, 1840;

Mitra is a large genus of medium to large predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Mitridae, the miter shells or mitre snails.^[1]

This genus is named after the ecclesiastical headgear, the miter, because of the shells' general shape.

These sea snails create shells that are considered attractive by shell collectors; the shells are solid, high-spired and are often colorful.

Species

Many species that were previously in the genus Mitra have been reassigned in the past years to other genera, including Calcimitra, Gemmulimitra, Isara, Nebularia, Neotiara, Pseudonebularia, Quasimitra, Roseomitra, Strigatella and Vexillum. According to the World Register of Marine Species, the following species with accepted names are currently included within the genus Mitra:^[1]

Species in this genus also include:^[2]^[3]

Mitra albozonata W. H. Turton, 1932: synonym of Quasimitra latruncularia (Reeve, 1844)
Mitra latruncularia Reeve, 1844 synonym of Quasimitra latruncularia (Reeve, 1844)
Mitra lurida W. H. Turton, 1932: synonym of Vexillum patulum (Reeve, 1845)
Mitra multisulcata G. B. Sowerby III, 1914: synonym of Strigatella subruppelli (Finlay, 1927)
Mitra variabilis Reeve, 1844: synonym of Quasimitra variabilis (Reeve, 1844)