Xenuroturris kingae

Xenuroturris kingae
Shell of Xenuroturris kingae (specimen at MNHN, Paris)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Superfamily: Conoidea
Family: Turridae
Genus: Xenuroturris
Species:
X. kingae
Binomial name
Xenuroturris kingae
A.W.B. Powell, 1964
Synonyms[1]
  • Iotyrris kingae (A. W. B. Powell, 1964) superseded combination
  • Lophiotoma kingae (Powell, 1964)

Xenuroturris kingae is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Turridae, the turrids.[1]

Taxonomy

The species was known also as Iotyrris kingae. The genus Iotyrris was synonymized with Xenuroturris in 2024 following a comprehensive phylogenetic revision of the family Turridae.[2] Iotyrris had originally been distinguished from Xenuroturris based on radular morphology; while species of Xenuroturris were characterized by "duplex" marginal radular teeth, those assigned to Iotyrris possessed "semi-enrolled" marginal teeth.[2]

However, molecular analyses utilizing exon-capture data demonstrated that these radular traits were homoplastic and not consistent with the phylogeny.[2] The study found that species possessing duplex teeth (such as X. olangoensis, X. kingae, and X. notata) fell into the same well-supported clade as species with semi-enrolled teeth.[2] Because the radular morphology was found to lack diagnostic value at the generic level,[3] Iotyrris was reduced to a synonym of Xenuroturris.[4]

Description

The length of the shell varies between 20 mm and 35 mm.

Distribution

X. kingae has been found off the Hawaiian Islands, Christmas Island and the Philippines.

References

  1. ^ a b MolluscaBase eds. (2026). MolluscaBase. Xenuroturris kingae A. W. B. Powell, 1964. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=435245 on 2026-01-10
  2. ^ a b c d Kantor et al. 2024, p. 13.
  3. ^ Kantor et al. 2024, p. 36.
  4. ^ Kantor et al. 2024, p. 1.

Sources

  • Kantor, Yuri; Bouchet, Philippe; Fedosov, Alexander; Puillandre, Nicolas; Zaharias, Paul (2024). "Generic revision of the Recent Turridae (Neogastropoda: Conoidea)" (PDF). Journal of Molluscan Studies. 90 (5) eyae032. doi:10.1093/mollus/eyae032.
  • Medinskaya, A.A., & Sysoev, A.V. 2001. The foregut anatomy of the genus Xenuroturris (Gastropoda, Conoidea, Turridae), with a description of a new genus. Ruthenica 11: 7-14.
  • Powell, A. W. B. 1964. The family Turridae in the Indo-Pacific. Indo-Pacific Mollusca 1. (5): 227–346; 1 (7): 409–454.