Pupa is a genus of small sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Acteonidae.
The genus is named Pupa because the shell of these snails resemble an insect pupa in overall shape. The animal has a large headshield with a deep median slit, separating it into two posteriorly projecting lobes.
According to the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), the following species are included within the genus Pupa:
Pupa affinis (A. Adams, 1854)
Distribution : South Africa, Red Sea, Indo-Pacific
Length : 11-20 mm
Description : cream-colored shell with horizontal spiraled patterns (dark brown, light brown or greenish) without dark borders; sharp apex
Pupa alveola (Souverbie, 1863)
Pupa coccinata L. A. Reeve, 1842 (considered by some to be a color form of Pupa strigosa)
Distribution : Japan, tropical Indo-West Pacific
Length : 25 mm
Description : headshield flaps cover the opening of the mantle cavity; white-colored with many orange-red spots in spiraling bands
Pupa davisi Kilburn, 1975
Distribution: South Africa
Length : 12.5 mm
Description : cream-colored shell with sharp apex.
Pupa niecaensis Barnard, 1963
Pupa nitulida (Lamarck, 1816) Smooth pink pupa
Pupa pascuana Raines, 2002
Pupa pudica (A. Adams, 1854)
† Pupa reticulata (Martin, 1884)
Pupa sekii Habe, 1958
Pupa sinica Lin, 1989
Pupa solidula Linnaeus, 1758 Solid pupa
Pupa strigosa (Gould, 1859)
Pupa sulcata (Gmelin, 1791) Furrowed pupa
Distribution : cosmopolitan, tropical Indo-Pacific, Kermadec Islands, Japan
Length : 10-25 mm
Description : intertidal and up to depths of 30 m, burrowing in the sand; lightbrown shell with horizontal darker bands, where the darkest parts form a vertical band; sharp apex
Pupa suturalis (A. Adams, 1854)
Pupa tessellata (Reeve, 1842)
Pupa tragulata Iredale, 1936
Species brought into synonymy
Pupa choshiensis (Habe, 1958): synonym of Rictaxiella choshiensis Habe, 1958
Pupa flammea (Gmelin, 1791): synonym of Maxacteon flammeus (Bruguière, 1789)
Pupa grisebla Röding, 1798: synonym of Pupa solidula (Linnaeus, 1758)
Pupa kirki (Hutton, 1873): synonym of Pupa affinis (A. Adams, 1855)
Pupa nivea (Angas, 1871) synonym of Pupa affinis (A. Adams, 1855)
Pupa novoseelandica L. Pfeiffer, 1853: synonym of Phenacharopa novoseelandica (L. Pfeiffer, 1853)
Pupa roseomaculata Iredale, 1936: synonym of Pupa solidula (Linnaeus, 1758)
Pupa umbilicata Draparnaud, 1801: synonym of Lauria cylindracea (da Costa, 1778)
The database Indo-Pacific Molluscan Database (OBIS) also includes the following names in current use :
Pupa acuta
Pupa alba (Hutton, 1873)
Pupa cinerea
Pupa fraterculus
Pupa insculpta
Pupa pusilla
Pupa strigosa
Pupa thaanumi Pilsbry, 1917
Pupa alveola Souverbie, 1863
Distribution : Indo-Pacific
Pupa choshiensis T. Habe, 1958
Distribution : Japan
Pupa cinerea R. B. Watson, 1886
Distribution : Japan
Pupa clathrata Yokoyama, 1922
Distribution : Japan
Pupa fumata Gould, 1859 Brown Pupa
Distribution : tropical, Western Australia, Indo-Pacific
Length : 20 mm
Description : shell with spiral ribs; patterns of brown or gray spots on a cream-colored background; whorls separated by a white narrow band.
Pupa niecaensis K. H. Barnard, 1963
Distribution : South Africa
Pupa pudica Adams, 1854
Distribution : Hawaii
Length : 7 mm
Description : pink-colored elongate shell, with spiral bands of lightbrown patterns.
Pupa suturalis A. Adams, 1855
Distribution : Indo-Pacific
