Lacuna is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Littorinidae, the winkles or periwinkles.
Description The spiral animal body is elongated. The mouth has a proboscis with two thick lips and a spiral, filiform tongue. There are two slender, contractile tentacles with the eyes on small pedicels near their base. The foot is oval and somewhat broader behind.
The thin shell has an ovate-conical or subglobose shape and is covered with a delicate horny periostracum. It has a short spire with convex whorls that are rapidly expanding. The last whorl is ventricose, i.e. inflated in the middle. The apex is rather obtuse. The oval or roundish aperture is covered with a horny, spirally marked operculum. The peristome is incomplete behind. The columella is flattened and forms with the peristome an elongated groove continued from the umbilicus. This groove is bounded internally by the decurved margin of the pillar.Macgillivray, William, History of the molluscous animals of Scotland; London, 1844
Species The following species are recognised in the genus Lacuna:
Lacuna amaina Lacuna carinifera Lacuna cleicecabrale Lacuna crassior Lacuna decorata Lacuna dialyta Lacuna dutemplii Lacuna globulosa Lacuna grandis Lacuna houdasi Lacuna latifasciata Lacuna lepidula Lacuna lukinii Lacuna macrostoma Lacuna marmorata Lacuna minor Lacuna orientalis Lacuna pallidula Lacuna parva Lacuna porrecta Lacuna pulchella Lacuna pumilio Lacuna reflexa Lacuna sigaretina Lacuna smithii Lacuna succinea Lacuna sulcifera Lacuna turgida Lacuna turneri Lacuna turrita Lacuna uchidai Lacuna unifasciata Lacuna vaginata Lacuna variegata Lacuna vincta
Species brought into synonymy Lacuna abyssicola Melvill & Standen, 1912: synonym of Moelleriopsis poppei Engl, 2012 Lacuna azonata Locard, 1886: synonym of Megalomphalus azoneus (Brusina, 1865) Lacuna carinata Gould, 1848: synonym of Lacuna vincta (Montagu, 1803) Lacuna cossmanni Locard, 1897 : synonym of Benthobia tryonii Dall, 1889 Lacuna macmurdensis Hedley, 1911 : synonym of Trilirata macmurdensis (Hedley, 1911) Lacuna mediterranea Monterosato, 1869 : synonym of Ersilia mediterranea (Monterosato, 1869) Lacuna neritoidea Gould, 1840 : synonym of Lacuna pallidula (da Costa, 1778) Lacuna notorcadensis Melvill & Standen, 1907: synonym of Laevilitorina wandelensis (Lamy, 1905) Lacuna pallidula var. patula Hanley in Thorpe, 1844: synonym of Lacuna pallidula (da Costa, 1778) Lacuna puteolus (Turton, 1819) : synonym of Lacuna parva (da Costa, 1778)
References
Reid D. G. (1989). "The comparative morphology, phylogeny and evolution of the gastropod family Littorinidae". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B 324: 1-110
External links Miocene Gastropods and Biostratigraphy of the Kern River Area, California; United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 642