Heliacus

Heliacus
Shell of Heliacus fallaciosus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Family: Architectonicidae
Genus: Heliacus
d'Orbigny, 1842
Type species
Solarium herberti Deshayes, 1830
Synonyms[1]
  • Astronacus Woodring, 1959 (junior subjective synonym)
  • Grandeliacus Iredale, 1957
  • Gyriscus Tiberi, 1867
  • Heliacus (Astronacus) Woodring, 1959 junior subjective synonym
  • Heliacus (Grandeliacus) Iredale, 1957 alternative representation
  • Heliacus (Gyriscus) Tiberi, 1867 alternative representation
  • Heliacus (Heliacus) A. d'Orbigny, 1842 alternative representation
  • Heliacus (Pyrgoheliacus) Bieler, 1987 alternative representation
  • Heliacus (Teretropoma) Rochebrune, 1881 alternative representation
  • Heliacus (Torinista) Iredale, 1936 alternative representation
  • Solarium (Torinia) J. E. Gray, 1842 junior subjective synonym
  • Teretropoma Rochebrune, 1881
  • Torinia J. E. Gray, 1842 (name suppressed (Opinion 2185, ICZN))
  • Torinia (Torinia) J. E. Gray, 1842
  • Torinista Iredale, 1936
  • Tornista Iredale, 1936 misspelling - incorrect subsequent spelling (Error for Torinista)
  • Tornista [sic] · (Error for Torinia Gray, 1842)
  • Trochus (Heliacus) A. d'Orbigny, 1842 (superseded combination)

Heliacus is a genus of gastropods belonging to the family Architectonicidae.[1][2]

General characteristics

(Original description in French) The operculum is corneous and conical, increasing in diameter from the apex to the base; its inner side is smooth with a central point; all the rest is composed of spirally coiled lamellae which decrease in diameter and are always fringed at their circumference. The shell is usually higher than the other sundials, with a narrower umbilicus.[3]

(Described as Gyriscus in Latin) The shell is turbinate, conico-turreted, and umbilicate; the apex is blunt, with the tip involuted; the whorls are rounded and transversely girdled; the aperture is subcircular, with the margins sharp and joined by a callus, the columellar lip being reflected. The operculum is corneous (horny), multispiral on the upper part, and provided with a stylet-like process on the lower part.[4]

Distribution

The Heliacus species are typically found in warm-temperate to tropical waters globally, from the intertidal zone down to the subtidal and occasionally deeper.[2]

Species

References

  1. ^ a b MolluscaBase eds. (2025). MolluscaBase. Heliacus A. d'Orbigny, 1842. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=137663 on 2025-11-13
  2. ^ a b "Heliacus d'Orbigny, 1842". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  3. ^ Orbigny, A. d'. (1841-1853). Mollusques. In: R. de la Sagra (ed.). Histoire physique, politique et naturelle de l'Ile de Cuba. Arthus Bertrand, Paris. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. ^ Tiberi, N. (1867). "Diagnose du nouveau genre méditerranéen Gyriscus". Journal de Conchyliologie. 15: 303. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  • SeaLifeBase
  • Powell A. W. B., New Zealand Mollusca, William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1
  • Bieler, R. (1987). Die Gattungen der Architectonicidae (Gastropoda: Allogastropoda). Teil 4: Heliacus (Pyrgoheliacus) n. subgen. und Architectonica (Adelphotectonica) n. subgen. Archiv für Molluskenkunde. 117 (4/6): 203-215, pls. 1-2
  • Bieler, R. (1993). Architectonicidae of the Indo-Pacific (Mollusca, Gastropoda). Abhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg. NF. 30: 1-376