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Distorted Whelks

The Personidae is a small family, only about 25 species, formerly regarded as being part of the Ranellidae. All species in the family are distorted to some extent, due to the necessity for whorls to grow over the expanded varix of the earlier whorl. The principal genus is Distorsio, in which distortion is extensive. The family was separated from the Ranellidae by Beu (1988), who recognised that the radula differed from that of the Ranellidae. It had been thought that Distorsio evolved from the ranellid genus Sassia, but Beu recognised that both genera originated in the Cretaceous, thus justifying separate families.

Family References

Beu, A.G. 1988. Taxonomy of gastropods of the families Ranellidae (=Cymatiidae) and Bursidae, part 5. Early history of the families, with four new genera and recognition of the family Personidae. Saito Ho-on Kai Special Publication: 69-96.

Kronenberg, G.C. 1994. A review of the Personidae Gray, 1854, with the description of Distorsio ventricosa spec. nov. Vita Marina 42(3):57-103

Coverage:

The only species known from NSW is figured.