The Fasciolariidae, common name the "tulip snails and spindle snails", are a family of small to large sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Buccinoidea.
The family Fasciolariidae probably appeared about 110 million years ago during the Cretaceous
Distribution
The recent species inhabit tropical to temperate waters.
Description
The shells are usually reddish in color and have a moderate to large size, reaching a height between 1.0 and 60 cm. The shells are spindle-shaped and biconic. The spire is elongated. The siphonal canal is well developed and is long to moderately long. The columella varies between a smooth appearance and showing spiral folds. The horny operculum has an oval shape. Their radula is characteristic with narrow central teeth with three cusps. The wide lateral teeth show numerous ctenoid (= comblike) cusps.
Snails in the family Fasciolariidae are carnivorous. They feed on other gastropods and on bivalves. Some also prey on worms and barnacles.
The snails are gonochoristic, i.e. the individuals have just one sex. The female snails deposit their eggs in horny capsules either in a single form or in clusters arranged around a hollow axis. The single forms have a flattened, disk-shaped, or vase-shaped form. The clusters are hemispherical or cylindrical. Development is usually direct. The larvae emerge from the capsules as free-swimming young or as crawling young.
Taxonomy
According to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi (2005), the Fasciolariidae consist of three subfamilies:
