Higher Classification: > Kingdom Animalia > Subkingdom Eumetazoa > Phylum Mollusca > Class Gastropoda > Subclass Orthogastropoda > Subclass Caenogastropoda > Order Littorinimorpha > Superfamily Vermetoidea

Vermetidae Rafinesque, 1815

Rank: Family
Taxon Status: accepted

note: The position of the Vermetidae has been controversial. However, sperm ultrastructure (Healy, 1988) and molecular data (e.g., Colgan et al. 2000) clearly show that it belongs in the Littorinimorpha although placement in the Cerithioidea still persist (e.g.

Children

Dendropoma Mörch, 1861
Petaloconchus H. C. Lea, 1843
Thylacodes Guettard, 1770
Thylaeodus Mörch, 1860
Vermetus Daudin, 1800

Vernaculars (+) (-)

English: worm shells; worm snails; worm-snails sources: MASDEA (1997).;Cole, T. C. H. (2017). Wörterbuch der Wirbellosen / Dictionary of Invertebrates. Latein-Deutsch-English. 2017. Springer Spektrum: Berlin. ISBN 978-3-662-52869-3. XII, 574 pp.;Bieler, R. & Petit, R. E. (2011). Catalogue of Recent and fossil “worm-snail” taxa of the families Vermetidae, Siliquariidae, and Turritellidae (Mollusca: Caenogastropoda). Zootaxa. 2948: 1-103.

German: Wurmschnecken sources: Cole, T. C. H. (2017). Wörterbuch der Wirbellosen / Dictionary of Invertebrates. Latein-Deutsch-English. 2017. Springer Spektrum: Berlin. ISBN 978-3-662-52869-3. XII, 574 pp.

Japanese: ムカデガイ科

Literature

basis of record	Bouchet, P. & Rocroi, J.-P. (2005). Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families. Malacologia. 47 (1-2): 1-397. [20 July].
additional source	Bieler, R. & Petit, R. E. (2011). Catalogue of Recent and fossil “worm-snail” taxa of the families Vermetidae, Siliquariidae, and Turritellidae (Mollusca: Caenogastropoda). Zootaxa. 2948: 1-103.

Genbank

Citation

MolluscaBase eds. (2025). MolluscaBase. Vermetidae Rafinesque, 1815. Via: Costello, M.J.; Bouchet, P.; Boxshall, G.; Arvantidis, C.; Appeltans, W. (2011) European Register of Marine Species, Accessed through PESI at http://www.eu-nomen.eu/portal/taxon.php?GUID=urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:23139