Prunum

Prunum
Prunum fulminatum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Superfamily: Volutoidea
Family: Marginellidae
Subfamily: Pruninae
Genus: Prunum
Herrmannsen, 1852
Type species
Voluta prunum
Gmelin, 1791
Synonyms[1]
  • Egouena Jousseaume, 1875
  • Leptegouana Woodring, 1928
  • Marginella (Prunum) H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853
  • † Microspira Conrad, 1868
  • † Porcellanella Tryon, 1882 (invalid: junior homonym of Porcellanella White, 1852 [Crustacea].)

Prunum is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the subfamily Pruninae of the family Marginellidae, the margin snails.[1]

The separation between the genera Prunum and Volvarina is not very precise. They form together a monophyletic clade. The differences between these two genera are based on differences in the morphology of the shell, the radula, the radular cartilage, the mantle and the internal anatomy.[2] A rather arbitrary criterion is currently used to distinguish between the two genera. The large species with a strong callus are placed in Prunum, the slender species with a thin callus in Volvarina, leaving in between many ambiguous species. To date (2010) there is no phylogenetic analysis behind the current generic placements [1]

  1. ^ a b c Prunum Herrmannsen, 1852. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 23 January 2011.
  2. ^ Jeremy B.C. Jackson, Scott Lidgard, and Frank K. McKinney, Evolutionary patterns : growth, form and tempo in the fossil record, The University of Chicago Press, 2001 ISBN 0-226-38930-8