Austrocochlea Explained

Austrocochlea is a genus of medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Trochidae, the top snails, also known as top shells.^[1]

This genus was founded as a subgenus by Fisher in 1885 to include a small group of Australian species, included in the genus Monodonta. They had previously been included in Trochocochlea Klein, 1753 (= Osilinus Philippi, 1847), a section that was then restricted to the Mediterranean group.^[2]

Distribution

This marine species occurs off the Philippines and mainly off Australia.

Species

Species within the genus Austrocochlea include:

• Austrocochlea brevis Parsons & Ward, 1994
• Austrocochlea constellata (Souverbie, 1863)
• Austrocochlea constricta (Lamarck, 1822), the southern ribbed top snail
• Austrocochlea diminuta (Hedley, 1912)
• Austrocochlea piperina (Philippi, 1849)
• Austrocochlea porcata (A. Adams, 1853), the zebra top snail
• Austrocochlea quadrasi (Sowerby III, 1898)
• Austrocochlea rudis Gray, 1826
• Austrocochlea zebra Menke, K.T., 1829
• Austrocochlea zeus P. Fischer, 1874

Species brought into synonymy:

• Austrocochlea adelaidae (Philippi, 1851): synonym of Chlorodiloma adelaidae (Philippi, 1849)
• Austrocochlea concamerata (Wood, 1828): synonym of Diloma concamerata (Wood, 1828)
• Austrocochlea obtusa Iredale, T. & McMichael, D.F. 1962: synonym of Austrocochlea constricta (Lamarck, 1822)
• Austrocochlea odontis (W. Wood, 1828): synonym of Chlorodiloma odontis (W. Wood, 1828)
• Austrocochlea porcata Iredale, T. & McMichael, D.F. 1962: synonym of Austrocochlea constricta (Lamarck, 1822)
• Austrocochlea torri Cotton & Godfrey, 1934: synonym of Austrocochlea constricta (Lamarck, 1822)
• Austrocochlea tricingulata (Adams, A., 1853): synonym of Austrocochlea quadrasi Sowerby III, 1898

References

• Risso, 1826 [Risso ex Leach MS]; Histoire naturelle des principales productions de l'Europe méridionale, 4: 134
• Fischer, 1855: Manuel de conchyliologie et de paléontologie conchyliologique, (9): 820; Placed on the Official List by Opinion 1930, 1999, Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature, 56(3): 202
• Finlay, 1926: Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute, 57: 352, 370
• Nomenclator Zoologicus info
• Donald K.M., Kennedy M. & Spencer H.G. (2005) The phylogeny and taxonomy of austral monodontine topshells (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Trochidae), inferred from DNA sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 37: 474-483

Notes and References

1. Bouchet, P. (2013). Austrocochlea P. Fischer, 1885. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=512299 on 2014-03-13
2. https://archive.today/20140317151526/http://mollus.oxfordjournals.org/content/3/1/9.extract G.B. Sowerby III, On Monodonta quadrasi, n.sp., belonging to the subgenus Austrocochlea, from the Philippine Islands; Journal of Molluscan Studies, 1898 - Malacological Soc. London