The shells often show various muted but attractive colors, and may be patterned also. They are marinegastropodmolluscs in the familyOlividae within the main clade Neogastropoda.
Taxonomy
According to the Revised Classification, Nomenclator and Typification of Gastropod Families (2017)[2] the family Olividae consists of five subfamilies:[3]
Olivinae Latreille, 1825 – synonyms: Dactylidae H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853 (inv.);
Olive snails are found worldwide, in subtropical and tropical seas and oceans.
Habitat
These snails are found on sandy substrates intertidally and subtidally.
Life habits
The olive snails are all carnivorous sand-burrowers. They feed mostly on bivalves and carrion and are known as some of the fastest burrowers among snails. They secrete a mucus similar to that of the Muricidae, from which a purple dye can be made.
Shell description
Physically the shells are oval and cylindrical in shape. They have a well-developed stepped spire. Olive shells have a siphonal notch at the posterior end of the long narrow aperture. The siphon of the living animal protrudes from the siphon notch.
The shell surface is extremely glossy because in life the mantle almost always covers the shell.[4][5]
The fossil record
Olive shells first appeared during the Campanian.[6]
Human use
Olive shells are popular with shell collectors, and are also often made into jewelry and other decorative items.
^Vermeij, Geerat J (1 September 1993). Evolution and Escalation. Princeton University Press. ISBN0-691-00080-8. p.182.
^Charles L. Powell II, Fred Vervaet and David Berschauer, A taxonomic review of California Holocene Callianax (Olivellidae. Gastropoda. Mollusca) based on shell characters; The Festivus March 2020, special issue
Further reading
Hunon Ch., Hoarau A. & Robin A. (2009). Olividae (Mollusca, Gastropoda).
