Olive snail

Olive snail
	live Vullietoliva kaleontina
	Shells of Lettered olive, Americoliva sayana
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Superfamily:	Olivoidea
Family:	Olividae; Latreille, 1825
Genera
	See text
Synonyms
	Olivancillariidae

Olive snails, also known as olive shells and olives, scientific name Olividae, are a taxonomic family of medium to large predatory sea snails with smooth, shiny, elongated oval-shaped shells.^[1]

The shells often show various muted but attractive colors, and may be patterned also. They are marine gastropod molluscs in the family Olividae within the main clade Neogastropoda.

Also see the Olivellidae, the dwarf olives, which were previously grouped within this family, but which now have their own family.

Taxonomy[]

According to the Revised Classification, Nomenclator and Typification of Gastropod Families (2017)^[2] the family Olividae consists of five subfamilies:^[3]

Olivinae Latreille, 1825 – synonyms: Dactylidae H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853 (inv.);
Olsson, 1956
Kantor, Fedosov, Puillandre, Bonillo & Bouchet, 2017
Golikov & Starobogatov, 1975
Olivellinae Troschel, 1869

Distribution[]

Olive snails are found worldwide, in subtropical and tropical seas and oceans.

Habitat[]

These snails are found on sandy substrates intertidally and subtidally.

Life habits[]

The olive snails are all carnivorous sand-burrowers. They feed mostly on bivalves and carrion and are known as some of the fastest burrowers among snails. They secrete a mucus similar to that of the Muricidae, from which a purple dye can be made.

Shell description[]

Physically the shells are oval and cylindrical in shape. They have a well-developed stepped spire. Olive shells have a siphonal notch at the posterior end of the long narrow aperture. The siphon of the living animal protrudes from the siphon notch.

The shell surface is extremely glossy because in life the mantle almost always covers the shell.^[4]^[5]

The fossil record[]

Olive shells first appeared during the Campanian.^[6]

Human use[]

Olive shells are popular with shell collectors, and are also often made into jewelry and other decorative items.

The shell of the lettered olive, Oliva sayana, is the state shell of South Carolina in the United States.

Genera[]

Genera within the family Olividae include:

Agaronia Gray, 1839
Americoliva Petuch, 2013 (synonym of Oliva)
Callianax H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853 ^[7]
Calyptoliva Kantor & Bouchet, 2007
Cupidoliva Iredale, 1924
Felicioliva Petuch & Berschauer, 2017
† Marwick, 1931
Petuch & Sargent, 1986
Oliva Bruguière, 1789
Olivancillaria d'Orbigny, 1840
Omogymna Martens, 1897
† Glibert, 1960
Recourtoliva Petuch & Berschauer, 2017
† H. E. Vokes, 1936
† Landau, da Silva & Heitz, 2016
Habe, 1958
Vullietoliva Petuch & Berschauer, 2017

Genera brought into synonymy

Chilotygma H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853: synonym of Ancilla Lamarck, 1799
Hiatula Swainson, 1831: synonym of Agaronia Gray, 1839
Lintricula H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853: synonym of Olivancillaria d'Orbigny, 1840
Porphyria Röding, 1798 : synonym of Oliva Bruguière, 1789
Scaphula Swainson, 1840: synonym of Olivancillaria d'Orbigny, 1840

Lettered olive, Oliva sayana

References[]

^ ^a ^b Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2012). Olividae. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=23082 on 2012-06-11
^ Bouchet, Philippe; Rocroi, Jean-Pierre; Hausdorf, Bernhard; Kaim, Andrzej; Kano, Yasunori; Nützel, Alexander; Parkhaev, Pavel; Schrödl, Michael; Strong, Ellen E. (2017). "Revised Classification, Nomenclator and Typification of Gastropod and Monoplacophoran Families". Malacologia. 61 (1–2): 1–526. doi:10.4002/040.061.0201. ISSN 0076-2997.
^ "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Olividae Latreille, 1825". www.marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
^ Washington State University Tri-Cities Natural History Museum (2001). Family: Olividae (Olive Shells). Retrieved on 12 July 2006.
^ Vermeij, Geerat J (3 April 1995). A Natural History of Shells. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-00167-7. pps. 89, 100, 114.
^ Vermeij, Geerat J (1 September 1993). Evolution and Escalation. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-00080-8. p.182.
^ Charles L. Powell II, Fred Vervaet and David Berschauer, A taxonomic review of California Holocene Callianax (Olivellidae. Gastropoda. Mollusca) based on shell characters; The Festivus March 2020, special issue

External links[]

Miocene Gastropods and Biostratigraphy of the Kern River Area, California; United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 642 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

[WoRMS-1] Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2012). Olividae. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=23082 on 2012-06-11

[2] Bouchet, Philippe; Rocroi, Jean-Pierre; Hausdorf, Bernhard; Kaim, Andrzej; Kano, Yasunori; Nützel, Alexander; Parkhaev, Pavel; Schrödl, Michael; Strong, Ellen E. (2017). "Revised Classification, Nomenclator and Typification of Gastropod and Monoplacophoran Families". Malacologia. 61 (1–2): 1–526. doi:10.4002/040.061.0201. ISSN 0076-2997.

[3] "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Olividae Latreille, 1825". www.marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2020-11-24.

[4] Washington State University Tri-Cities Natural History Museum (2001). Family: Olividae (Olive Shells). Retrieved on 12 July 2006.

[5] Vermeij, Geerat J (3 April 1995). A Natural History of Shells. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-00167-7. pps. 89, 100, 114.

[6] Vermeij, Geerat J (1 September 1993). Evolution and Escalation. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-00080-8. p.182.

[7] Charles L. Powell II, Fred Vervaet and David Berschauer, A taxonomic review of California Holocene Callianax (Olivellidae. Gastropoda. Mollusca) based on shell characters; The Festivus March 2020, special issue

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