Key:  Family Buccinidae

Phylum Mollusca
 Class Gastropoda
  Subclass Prosobranchia
   Order Neogastropoda
    Suborder Rachiglossa

Taken primarily from  Kozloff, 1987, 1996 p 223

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1a  Dark lines between prominent and evenly spaced spiral ridges showing through on the inside of the aperture; axial ribs nearly parallel to the long axis of the shell, generally not extending to the body whorl except in specimens less than 3 cm high (height to 5 cm; common intertidal and shallow subtidal species) Searlesia dira
1b No dark lines on the inside of the aperture (the spiral ridges are almost microscopic, and there are no obvious dark lines between them); axial ribs extending to the body whorl, and often somewhat irregular as well as oblique to the long axis of the shell (height to about 7 cm; moderately common subtidal species Buccinium plectrum



Taxonomic Levels Represented in This Key:
 Searlesia dira
 Buccinium plectrum
Not in Kozloff's (1996) key but now classified in Family Buccinidae:
  Colus griseus
  Buccinum thermophilum


Page created by Dave Cowles, 2005
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