Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 11, 2026

Acirsa

Acirsa is a genus of predatory sea snails, marine prosobranch gastropod mollusks in the family Epitoniidae. They are commonly known as wentletraps.

Last revised
Jul 11, 2026
Read time
≈ 5 min
Length
1,104 w
Citations
6
Source
Acirsa
Acirsa borealis shell (specimen at the Natural History Museum, Rotterdam)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: incertae sedis
Superfamily: Epitonioidea
Family: Epitoniidae
Genus: Acirsa
Mörch, 18571
Type species
Scalaria borealis Lyell, 1841
Synonyms2
  • Acirsa (Acirsa) Mörch, 1857 (alternate representation)
  • Acirsa (Acirsella) de Boury, 1887 (alternate representation)
  • Acirsa (Hemiacirsa) de Boury, 1890
  • Acirsa (Plesioacirsa) de Boury, 1909
  • Hemiacirsa de Boury, 1890
  • Kallosinistrala Stilwell & Zinsmeister, 1992
  • Notacirsa Finlay, 1926
  • Plastiscala Iredale, 1936
  • Plesioacirsa de Boury, 1909
  • Pseudacirsa Kobelt, 1905
  • Pseudoacirsa de Boury, 1909
  • Scala (Hemiacirsa) de Boury, 1890
  • Scala (Plastiscala) Iredale, 1936 (junior subjective synonym)
  • Scala (Plesioacirsa) de Boury, 1909
  • Scala (Pseudacirsa) Kobelt, 1903
  • Scala (Pseudoacirsa) de Boury, 1909 (original rank)
  • Scala (Tumidiacirsa) de Boury, 1911 (unnecessary replacement for Pseudoacirsa (de Boury, 1909))
  • Scalaria (Acirsa) Mörch, 1857
  • Turbonilla (Mormurella) Nomura, 1939
  • Turritella Wollaston, 1878

Acirsa is a genus of predatory sea snails, marine prosobranch gastropod mollusks in the family Epitoniidae. They are commonly known as wentletraps.2

Species

According to the World Register of Marine Species, the following species with valid names are included within the genus Acirsa :2

  • Acirsa aersispira Stilwell & Zinsmeister, 1992
  • Acirsa amara Kilburn, 1985
  • Acirsa antarctica E. A. Smith, 1907
  • Acirsa antarctodelicata Stilwell & Zinsmeister, 1992
  • Acirsa auversiensis Deshayes, 1861
  • Acirsa awamoaensis P. Marshall & Murdoch, 1921
  • Acirsa bezanconi de Boury, 1883
  • Acirsa borealis Lyell, 1841
  • Acirsa canicularis Lamarck, 1804
  • Acirsa cerralvoensis DuShane, 1970
  • Acirsa coarctata Jeffreys, 1884
  • Acirsa coarctata coarctata Jeffreys, J.G., 1884
  • Acirsa coarctata distantespirata Nordsieck, F., 1972
  • Acirsa cookiana Dell, 1956
  • Acirsa cylindracea Fenaux, 1937
  • Acirsa erasa Deshayes, 1861
  • Acirsa funiculosa Cossmann, 1888
  • Acirsa gracilis Fenaux, 1938 (accepted > unreplaced junior homonym, junior homonym of Acirsa gracilis (Verrill, 1880), a replacement name is needed)
  • Acirsa lampra Tate, 1890
  • Acirsa lanceolata Brocchi, 1814
  • Acirsa lhommei de Boury, 1913
  • Acirsa martensi de Boury, 1913
  • Acirsa mcleani Sirenko, 2009
  • Acirsa mioplicatula Kautsky, 1925
  • Acirsa morsei Yokoyama, 1926
  • Acirsa murrha DuShane, 1970
  • Acirsa oamarutica Suter, 1917
  • Acirsa ochotensis Middendorff, 1848
  • Acirsa pacifica Wilckens, 1922
  • Acirsa polynema Tate, 1890
  • Acirsa pratoma Dall, 1919
  • Acirsa primaeva de Boury, 1887
  • Acirsa prisca Suter, 1917
  • Acirsa sceauxsensis Landau, Ceulemans & Van Dingenen, 2018 †
  • Acirsa semicorrugata Chirli, 2009
  • Acirsa striatula Deshayes, 1832
  • Acirsa subdecussata Cantraine, 1835
  • Acirsa subnodulosa P. A. Maxwell, 1988
  • Acirsa subplicata Deshayes, 1861
  • Acirsa subtenuistriata d'Orbigny, 1850
  • Acirsa symphylla Martens, 1878
  • Acirsa transversaria Deshayes, 1861
  • Acirsa turriculata Fenaux, 1937
  • Acirsa vetusta P. A. Maxwell, 1992
  • Acirsa woodburnei Stilwell & Zinsmeister, 1992

The following species are also named by ITIS and in the book New Zealand Mollusca, by A. Powell 3

  • Acirsa americana Wade, B., 1926
  • Acirsa clathrata Sohl, N.F., 1964
  • Acirsa cretacea Wade, B., 1917
  • Acirsa culmosa Sohl, N.F., 1964
  • Acirsa elatum Suter, H., 1917
  • Acirsa entrichti Nordsieck, F., 1968
  • Acirsa eschrichti Hölboll, 1842
  • Acirsa flexicostata Sohl, N.F., 1964
  • Acirsa gravida Sohl, N.F., 1964
  • Acirsa implexa Sohl, N.F., 1964
  • Acirsa microstriata Wade, B., 1917
  • Acirsa otogoensis Stilwell, J.D., 1994
  • Acirsa pelagica Risso, A., 1826
  • Acirsa turrita Parona, 1894
  • Acirsa vayssierei
  • Acirsa wadei Cossmann, A.E.M., 1925
Species brought into synonymy
  • Acirsa annectens A. W. B. Powell, 1951: synonym of Gregorioiscala annectens A. W. B. Powell, 1951
  • Acirsa berryi: synonym of Couthouyella menesthoides Carpenter, 1864
  • Acirsa chitaniana Yokoyama, 1926: synonym of Acirsa martensi de Boury, 1913
  • Acirsa corsicana Nordsieck F., 1974 : synonym of Opalia coronata R. A. Philippi & Scacchi, 1840
  • Acirsa costulata: synonym of Acirsa borealis Lyell, 1841
  • Acirsa exopleura : synonym of Opalia exopleura Dall, 1917
  • Acirsa gracilis : synonym of Periapta pandion Clench & Turner, 1952
  • Acirsa hedleyi de Boury, 1912: synonym of Amaea hedleyi de Boury, 1912
  • Acirsa menesthoides: synonym of Couthouyella menesthoides Carpenter, 1864
  • Acirsa morchi Angas, 1871: synonym of Plastiscala morchi Angas, 1871
  • Acirsa praelonga Jeffreys, 1877: synonym of Papuliscala praelonga Jeffreys, 1877
  • Acirsa sarsii Kobelt, 1903: synonym of Gregorioiscala sarsii Kobelt, 1903
  • Acirsa subcarinata (Murdoch, R. & H. Suter, 1906): synonym of Aclis subcarinata (Murdoch, R. & H. Suter, 1906)
  • Acirsa undulata: synonym of Acirsa borealis Lyell, 1841

Some new species (Acirsa alpha, Acirsa beta, Acirsa delta, and Acirsa epsilon) have been named by Squires and Saul in 2003.4

References

References

  • Nomura, S. (1939). Summary of the fossil and Recent Japanese Pyramidellidae, with the description of several new species. In: Jubilee Publication in the Commemoration of Professor H. Yabe M.I.A. Sixtieth Birthday, vol. 1: 119–156.
External links