Melongenidae Explained

The Melongenidae, the crown conchs and their relatives, are a taxonomic family of large to very large marine gastropods in the superfamily Buccinoidea.^[1]

Taxonomy

For a while prior to 2004, the genera Busycon and Busycotypus were placed in the Melongenidae. Then, in 2004, based on their digestive systems and on cladistic analysis by Kosyan & Kantor (2004),^[2] these two genera were moved to the family Busyconidae within the superfamily Buccinoidea.

According to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi (2005), the Melongenidae consists of two subfamilies:

• Subfamily Melongeninae Gill, 1871 (1854) - synonyms: Cassidulidae Gray, 1854 (inv.); Galeodidae Thiele, 1925 (inv.); Volemidae Winckworth, 1945; Heligmotomidae Adegoke, 1977
• Subfamily Echinofulgurinae Petuch, 1994

Genera

Genera in the family Melongenidae include:

• Brunneifusus Dekkers, 2018
• Hemifusus Swainson, 1840
• Lenifusus Dekkers, 2018
• Melongena Schumacher, 1817 - crown conchs
• Pugilina Schumacher, 1817
• Saginafusus Wenz, 1943
• † Sycostoma Cox, 1931
• Taphon H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853
• Volegalea Iredale, 1938
• Volema Röding, 1798

Genera brought into synonymy:

• Cassidulus Gray, 1854: synonym of Pugilina Schumacher, 1817
• Galeodes Röding, 1798 : synonym of Melongena Schumacher, 1817
• Semifusus Agassiz, 1846 synonym of Hemifusus Swainson, 1840
• Thalessa H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853: synonym of Volema Röding, 1798

Notes and References

1. MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Melongenidae Gill, 1871 (1854). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=160182 on 2021-02-27
2. Kosyan A. R. & Kantor Yu. I. (2004). "Morphology, taxonomic status and relationships of Melongenidae (Gastropoda: Neogastropoda)". Ruthenica 14(1): 9-36. abstract and preview