Mitra (gastropod)

Mitra
A drawing of a live individual of Mitra mitra showing its long proboscis
Scientific classification Edit this 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[1]
  • 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.

  1. ^ a b Mitra Lamarck, 1798. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 11 December 2018.