Seraphsidae
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Seraphsidae Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Shell of Terebellum terebellum, a member of the family Seraphsidae | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Caenogastropoda |
| Order: | Littorinimorpha |
| Superfamily: | Stromboidea |
| Family: | Seraphsidae J.E. Gray, 1853 |
| Type genus | |
| Seraphs Montfort, 1810 | |
| Synonyms | |
Seraphsidae is a family of small to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Stromboidea.[2][3] Only one genus, Terebellum, is alive today, but several fossil genera are known, with the earliest records of the family dating back to the Danian age of the Paleocene.[4] Seraphsids are adapted for a burrowing life, with a streamlined shell.[5][6] Terebellum and its fossil relatives were originally classified as members of the closely related family Strombidae. When they were recognized as a separate family, the family was initially called Terebellidae, but as the name was already in use for a family of polychaete worms, the name Seraphsidae was proposed as a replacement, derived from the fossil genus Seraphs.[6]
