Turbinidae
family of gastropods
Turbinidae, the turban snails, are a family of small to large marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Trochoidea.
Description
Turbinidae have a strong, thick calcareous operculum readily distinguishing them from the somewhat similar Trochidae or top snails, which have a corneous operculum. This strong operculum serves as a passive defensive structure against predators that try to enter by way of the aperture or that would break the shell at the outer lip. These operculum are rounded ovals that are flat with a swirl design on one side and domed on the other. They are known as Pacific cat's eye or Shiva eye shells or mermaid money, and are used for decorative purposes.
Etymology
The common name turban snail presumably refers to the shell's similarity in appearance to a turban. However, the scientific name Turbinidae is based on the genus name Turbo, which is Latin for spinning top, a child's toy. The word turbine has a similar derivation.
Taxonomy
Previously they were classified in the subclass Prosobranchia, in the order Archaeogastropoda in the superfamily Trochacea. Trochaecea is now a synonym for the superfamily Trochoidea.
“Turbinidae” enters the record as family of gastropods. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Turbinidae, family and gastropods can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1310166. The Library of Congress control number is sh88021151. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Turbinidae” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.