Nassaria is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the subfamily Tomliniinae of the family Nassariidae.
Taxonomy
This genus was treated within family Buccinidae. It was moved to family Nassariidae in 2016.
Type species
The issue regarding type species of the genus Nassaria Link, 1807 is confusing. Cernohorsky (1981) and Fraussen (2006) assume “Nassaria lyrata Link, 1807”. Considering other instances in Link (1807), this latter name is expected to represent a new combination for Buccinum lyratum Gmelin, 1791, not as a separately available new taxon. Link’s (1807) original reference reads “N. lyrata. L. G. p. 3494. M.C. 4, t. 122, f. 1122, 1123“ [”L.G.” stands for Linnaeus, Gmelin edition and M.C. For Martini & Chemnitz’s “Conchylien Cabinet”].
Nevertheless, as pointed out by Mörch (1862), MacNeil (1961), and others, the two cited references are inconsistent. Gmelin’s Buccinum lyratum is introduced on pp. 3494–3495, and currently considered as a synonym of Boreotrophon clathratus (Linnaeus, 1767) whereas the reference to Martini & Chemnitz (1780), vol. 4, t. 122, f. 1122, 1123 matches Buccinum album Gmelin, 1791, described on page 3495 with reference to the same figures. The vernacular name “Fischreuseschnecken” (a German translation of Nassa snails) used by Link matches “Fischreuse” used by Martini & Chemnitz for f. 1122, 1123, indicating that the latter was the species really intended. This is the rationale for the current interpretation, where Nassaria lyrata Link, 1807 is considered an available name based on Martini & Chemnitz f. 1122, 1123 and objective junior synonym of Buccinum album Gmelin, 1791.
Description
The shell is ovately fusiform. The spire is acuminated. The whorls are longitudinally ribbed and cancellated. The aperture ends anteriorly in a long recurved siphonal canal. The inner lip is thin, circumscribed and transversely corrugately plicated. The outer lip is grooved internally.
Species
Species within the genus Nassaria include:
Nassaria acuminata (Reeve, 1881) Nassaria acutispirata (G.B. Sowerby III, 1913) Nassaria amboynensis Watson, 1881 Nassaria bitubercularis(A. Adams, 1851) Nassaria bombax Cernohorsky, 1981 Nassaria callomoni Poppe, Tagaro & Fraussen, 2008 Nassaria corollaria Fraussen, 2006 Nassaria coromandelica E.A.Smith, 1894 † Nassaria dijki (K. Martin, 1884) Nassaria exquisita Fraussen & Poppe, 2007 Nassaria fibula Fraussen & Stahlschmidt, 2008 Nassaria gracilis G.B. Sowerby III, 1902 Nassaria gyroscopoides Fraussen & Poppe, 2007 † Nassaria incerta (L. C. King, 1933) Nassaria incisa Fraussen, 2006 Nassaria intacta Fraussen, 2006 Nassaria laevior E.A. Smith, 1899 Nassaria magnifica Lischke, 1871 Nassaria miriamae (Dell, 1967) Nassaria moosai Fraussen, 2006 Nassaria nassoides (Griffith & Pidgeon, 1834) Nassaria nebulonis Fraussen, Dharma & Stahlschmidt, 2009 Nassaria okinavia (Mac Neil, 1960) Nassaria perlata Poppe & Fraussen, 2004 Nassaria problematica (Iredale, 1936) Nassaria pusilla (Röding, 1798) Nassaria recurva G.B. Sowerby II, 1859 Nassaria rickardi (Ladd, 1977) Nassaria sinensis G.B. Sowerby II, 1859 Nassaria solida Kuroda & Habe in Habe, 1961 Nassaria spinigera (Hayashi & Habe, 1965) Nassaria tarta Fraussen, 2006 Nassaria teres Martens, 1902 Nassaria termesoides Fraussen, 2006 Nassaria thalassomeli Fraussen & Poppe, 2007 Nassaria thesaura Fraussen & Poppe, 2007 Nassaria turbinata (Kuroda, 1961) Nassaria varicosa S.-Q. Zhang & S.-P. Zhang, 2014 Nassaria vermeiji Fraussen & Stahlschmidt, 2015 Nassaria visayensis Fraussen & Poppe, 2007 Nassaria wallacei Fraussen, 2006 † Nassaria wanneri (Tesch in Wanner, 1915)
Species brought into synonymy
Nassaria auritula Link, 1807: synonym of Gemophos auritulus (Link, 1807) Nassaria bushii Dall, 1889: synonym of Nassarina bushiae (Dall, 1889) Nassaria cirsiumoides Fraussen, 2004: synonym of Phaenomenella cirsiumoides (Fraussen, 2004) Nassaria columbellata Dall, 1889: synonym of Metulella columbellata (Dall, 1889) Nassaria kampyla Watson, 1885: synonym of Sassia kampyla (Watson, 1885) Nassaria laevier [sic]: synonym of Nassaria laevior E. A. Smith, 1899 Nassaria lyrata Link, 1807: synonym of Nassaria pusilla (Röding, 1798) Nassaria mordica Hedley, 1909 : synonym of Orania fischeriana (Tapparone-Canefri, 1882) Nassaria multiplicata G. B. Sowerby II, 1859: synonym of Nassaria pusilla (Röding, 1798)