Cuphosolenus is a genus of extinct small to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Aporrhaidae and the superfamily Stromboidea, known from the JurassicEdouard Piette, Paléontologie Française ou Description des Fossiles de la France ... Terrain Jurassique, Vol. III (text), p. 376 ff. and lower CretaceousSohl p. B19. periods. Cuphosolenus was named by Edouard Piette in 1876.Piette, Note sur les Coquilles Ailées des Mers Jurassiques, Laon 1876, p. 6.
Etymology Cuphosolenus is from the Greek Κυφός σωλήν, or "bent canal," referring to the curved anterior siphonal canal.Piette 1891, pp. 376.
Spelling In 1887, Paul Fischer “emended” the spelling of the name to Cyphosolenus.Fischer, Manuel de Conchyilologie, etc., Paris 1887, p. 674. In 1891, Piette accepted Fischer’s use of Cyphosolenus in the text of Paléontologie Française ou Description des Fossiles de la France, etc., Vol. III (text), p. 376 ff.The plates accompanying that work, however, continued to use “Cuphosolenus.” This change in spelling has been described as an unjustified emendation under the rules of the International Code of Zoological NomenclatureCuphosolenus tarrantensis page on Cretaceousfossils.com and scientists today generally call the genus Cuphosolenus, following the original spelling.See, e.g., Kaustuv Roy, Effects of Mesozoic Marine Revolution on the Taxonomic, Morphologic and Biogeographic Evolution of a Group: Aporrhaid Gastropods During the Mesozoic, Paleobiology, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Summer 1994), Fig. 1.
Description The genus includes Aporrhaidae shells with three long, thin finger-like extensions from the aperture and an extended, curved siphonal canal. The original description described the shell as having (translation from the French), "a semi-palmate lip, three digits, the posterior one of which is weakly attached to the spire, inner lip of columella thick, and siphonal canal bent or curved at the end". The type species for the genus is Cuphosolenus tetracer (D'Orbigny).Kaustuv Roy, Effects of Mesozoic Marine Revolution on the Taxonomic, Morphologic and Biogeographic Evolution of a Group: Aporrhaid Gastropods During the Mesozoic, Paleobiology, Vol. 20,(Summer 1994), p. 295
Distribution Cuphosolenus has been reported from the Jurassic of France,Piette 1891 p. 376 ff. the Sinai,F. Hirsch, Jurassic Bivalves and Gastropods from the Northern Sinai and Southern Israel, Israel Journal of Earth Science, Jerusalem, 1980, p. 142 and questionably from Saudi Arabia,Jean-Claude Fischer, Jurassic Gastropod Faunas of Central Saudi Arabia, GeoArabia, Vol. 6, no. 1 (2001), p. 25 as well as the lower Cretaceous of TexasStanton, pp.107-108, describing Aporrhais tarrantensis, placed by Sohl in Cuphosolenus. and Mexico.L. B. Kellum & K. E. Appelt, Two Gastropods from the lower Cretaceous (Albian) of Coahuila, Mexico, Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology: The University of Michigan XIX(2): 14-22 (1964). In his 1891 work, Piette included descriptions of 16 species of Cuphosolenus from the Jurassic of France.
Species The following species have been described as belonging (or possibly belonging = "?") to Cuphosolenus:
Jurassic species Cuphosolenus anguilcostatus Buvignier 1852Piette 1891 p. 404 & p. 416 n. Cuphosolenus barrensis Buvignier 1891Piette 1891 pp. 426 & 416 n. Cuphosolenus (?) beaumonti (Guirand & Ogérien 1869)Piette 1891 p. 381 Cuphosolenus (?) calvus (Contejean 1858)Piette 1891 p. 412 Cuphosolenus deshayeseus (Buvignier 1852)Piette 1891 p. 390 Cuphosolenus deslongchampsianus Buvingier 1891Piette 1891 p. 393 & 416 n. Cuphosolenus dyoniseus (Buvignier 1852)Piette 1891 p. 419 photo Cuphosolenus fusoides (Dolfus 1863)Piette 1891 p.417 Cuphosolenus galateae (D'Orbigny 1847)Piette 1891 p. 397 Cuphosolenus gaulardeus (Buvignier 1852)Piette 1891 p. 411 Cuphosolenus johannae Buvignier 1891Piette 1891 p. 416 & n. Cuphosolenus matronensis (DeLoriol 1871)Piette 1891 p. 395 Cuphosolenus (?) sphinx Piette, 1882Piette 1891 p. 379 Cuphosolenus tenuistriatus (Buvignier 1852)Piette 1891 p. 413 photo Cuphosolenus tetracer (D'Orbigny 1825)Piette 1891 p. 383 - type species. images Cuphosolenus theodoriensis Buvignier 1891Piette 1891 pp. 393 & 416 n.
Cretaceous species Cuphosolenus mexicanus (Kellum & Appelt, 1964) text include original description Cuphosolenus nuecensis (Stanton, 1947)Sohl p. B19 Cuphosolenus tarrantensis (Stanton, 1947)Now in Cuphosolenus. See Ulrich Wieneke's and Han Stoutjesdijk's Wiki on Stromboidea. 3D photo
References Footnotes
Sources Piette, 1891. Paléontologie Française ou Description des Fossiles de la France, Terrain Jurassique, Vol. III, Gastéropods. Paris. Norman F. Sohl, 1967. Upper Cretaceous Gastropods From the Pierre Shale at Red Bird, Wyoming, Geological Survey Professional Paper 393-B, Washington. Stanton T.W. 1947. Studies of Some Comanche Pelecypods and Gastropods, United States Geological Survey, Professional Paper 211, Washington.