MarBEF Data System


WoRMS name details

Fusus Helbling, 1779

204324  (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:204324)

  1. Biota
  2. Animalia (Kingdom)
  3. Mollusca (Phylum)
  4. Gastropoda (Class)
  5. Caenogastropoda (Subclass)
  6. Neogastropoda (Order)
  7. Buccinoidea (Superfamily)
  8. Colubrariidae (Family)
  9. Fusus (Genus)
 unaccepted > unavailable name (Invalid: Placed by the ICZN on the Official Index by Opinion 1765.)
Genus

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  1. Subgenus Fusus (Colus) Röding, 1798 accepted as Colus Röding, 1798
    1. Species Fusus (Colus) brenchleyi Baird, 1873 accepted as Marmorofusus brenchleyi (Baird, 1873) (unaccepted > superseded combination)
    2. Species Fusus (Colus) pagodoides R. B. Watson, 1882 accepted as Columbarium pagodoides (R. B. Watson, 1882) (unaccepted > superseded combination)
    3. Species Fusus (Colus) radialis R. B. Watson, 1882 accepted as Coluzea radialis (R. B. Watson, 1882) (unaccepted > superseded combination)
    4. Species Fusus (Colus) sarissophorus R. B. Watson, 1882 accepted as Fulgurofusus sarissophorus (R. B. Watson, 1882) (unaccepted > superseded combination)
    5. Species Fusus (Colus) similis Baird, 1873 accepted as Cyrtulus similis (Baird, 1873) (basionym)
  2. Species Fusus adjunctus (Iredale, 1929) accepted as Cumia adjuncta (Iredale, 1929) (superseded combination)
  3. Species Fusus alfredensis (Bartsch, 1915) accepted as Cumia alfredensis (Bartsch, 1915)
  4. Species Fusus bednalli (Brazier, 1875) accepted as Cumia bednalli (Brazier, 1876)
  5. Species Fusus brazieri (Angas, 1869) accepted as Cumia brazieri (Angas, 1869)
  6. Species Fusus linea Martyn, 1784 accepted as Buccinulum linea (Martyn, 1784) (superseded combination)
  7. Species Fusus lucasi Bozzetti, 2007 accepted as Cumia lucasi (Bozzetti, 2007)
  8. Species Fusus mestayerae Iredale, 1915 accepted as Cumia mestayerae (Iredale, 1915) (superseded combination)
  9. Species Fusus schoutanicus (May, 1911) accepted as Cumia schoutanica (May, 1911)
  10. Species Fusus simonis Bozzetti, 2004 accepted as Cumia simonis (Bozzetti, 2004)
  11. Species Fusus syrtensis A. S. Packard, 1867 accepted as Colus syrtensis (A. S. Packard, 1867)
  12. Species Fusus brazieri E. A. Smith, 1876 (uncertain > taxon inquirendum)
marine
Helbling G. S. (1779). Beyträge zur Kenntniß neuer und seltener Konchylien. Aus einigen Wienerischen Sammlungen. Abhandlungen einer Privatgesellschaft in Böhmen, zur Aufnahme der Mathematik, der vaterländischen Geschichte, und der Naturgeschichte, 4: 102-131, pl. 1-4., available online at http://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?PPN624644928%7CLOG_0013
page(s): 120; note: as subgenus of Murex Linnaeus, 1758 [details] OpenAccess publication
Nomenclature Historically, the name Fusus was used rather indiscriminately for any kind of spindle-shaped shell, for species now placed...  
Nomenclature Historically, the name Fusus was used rather indiscriminately for any kind of spindle-shaped shell, for species now placed throughout the families of Buccinoidea and beyond (Muricoidea and even some Conoidea). However, there were several nomenclatural establishments of the name.
1. Fusus Helbling, 1779, has been placed on the Official Index by Opinion 1765 (1994, Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 51(2): 159-161), i.e. it cannot be used as a valid name. The type species of Fusus Helbling is Murex intertextus Helbling, 1779, and it belongs in the family Colubrariidae.
2. Fusus Bruguière, 1789, is invalid because it is a junior homonym of Fusus Helbling, 1779, and it has also been placed on the Official Index by Opinion 1765. The type species (by subsequent monotypy) of Fusus Bruguière is Murex colus Linnaeus, 1758, and it belongs in the family Fasciolariidae.
3. It is uncertain whether Röding really intended to establish a new genus or whether he merely used the Fusus of Helbling (unlikely) or Bruguière (probably). Whatever, Fusus Röding, 1798, has also been placed on the Official Index by Opinion 1765.

To summarize, the name Fusus, in whatever taxonomical sense, is now invalid.
Rafinesque (1815) had substituted "Fusus Lamarck" [= Fusus Bruguière] with the name Fusinus. Fusinus then becomes the valid name for the species congeneric with Murex colus Linnaeus, 1759, i.e. Fusinus colus (Linnaeus, 1758). However, many of the species historically placed in Fusus are not congeneric or even confamilial with Fusinus colus.

When databasing names in WoRMS, it is not clear to which of the different Fusus an author originally combined a specific epithet. We have arbitrarily attributed to Fusus Helbling the specific epithets of species now placed in Colubrariidae, and we have attributed to Fusus Bruguière all the others.
 [details]
MolluscaBase eds. (2025). MolluscaBase. Fusus Helbling, 1779. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=204324 on 2025-05-28
Date
action
by
2001-11-24 14:09:49Z
created
Vanden Berghe, Edward
2002-01-03 17:22:09Z
changed
Vanden Berghe, Edward
2009-06-12 13:26:20Z
changed
Houart, Roland
2009-12-29 13:46:33Z
changed
Tran, Bastien
2010-07-05 09:58:42Z
changed
Tran, Bastien
2010-08-31 06:44:05Z
checked
Bouchet, Philippe
2010-09-29 16:09:11Z
changed
Bouchet, Philippe
2016-02-14 21:22:14Z
changed
Gofas, Serge
2022-11-27 15:28:09Z
changed
Dekker, Henk

Creative Commons License The webpage text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License


Nomenclature

original description Helbling G. S. (1779). Beyträge zur Kenntniß neuer und seltener Konchylien. Aus einigen Wienerischen Sammlungen. Abhandlungen einer Privatgesellschaft in Böhmen, zur Aufnahme der Mathematik, der vaterländischen Geschichte, und der Naturgeschichte, 4: 102-131, pl. 1-4., available online at http://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?PPN624644928%7CLOG_0013
page(s): 120; note: as subgenus of Murex Linnaeus, 1758 [details] OpenAccess publication

basis of record Vaught, K.C.; Abbott, R.T.; Boss, K.J. (1989). A classification of the living Mollusca. American Malacologists: Melbourne. ISBN 0-915826-22-4. XII, 195 pp. (look up in IMIS) [details] Available for editors  PDF available [request]

Taxonomy

status source ICZN. (1993). Opinion 1765. Fusus Helbling, 1779 (Mollusca, Gastropoda): suppressed, and Fusinus Rafinesque, 1815 and Colubraria Schumacher, 1817: conserved. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature. 51(2): 159-161., available online at http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/12251905 [details] 

From editor or global species database
Nomenclature Historically, the name Fusus was used rather indiscriminately for any kind of spindle-shaped shell, for species now placed throughout the families of Buccinoidea and beyond (Muricoidea and even some Conoidea). However, there were several nomenclatural establishments of the name.
1. Fusus Helbling, 1779, has been placed on the Official Index by Opinion 1765 (1994, Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 51(2): 159-161), i.e. it cannot be used as a valid name. The type species of Fusus Helbling is Murex intertextus Helbling, 1779, and it belongs in the family Colubrariidae.
2. Fusus Bruguière, 1789, is invalid because it is a junior homonym of Fusus Helbling, 1779, and it has also been placed on the Official Index by Opinion 1765. The type species (by subsequent monotypy) of Fusus Bruguière is Murex colus Linnaeus, 1758, and it belongs in the family Fasciolariidae.
3. It is uncertain whether Röding really intended to establish a new genus or whether he merely used the Fusus of Helbling (unlikely) or Bruguière (probably). Whatever, Fusus Röding, 1798, has also been placed on the Official Index by Opinion 1765.

To summarize, the name Fusus, in whatever taxonomical sense, is now invalid.
Rafinesque (1815) had substituted "Fusus Lamarck" [= Fusus Bruguière] with the name Fusinus. Fusinus then becomes the valid name for the species congeneric with Murex colus Linnaeus, 1759, i.e. Fusinus colus (Linnaeus, 1758). However, many of the species historically placed in Fusus are not congeneric or even confamilial with Fusinus colus.

When databasing names in WoRMS, it is not clear to which of the different Fusus an author originally combined a specific epithet. We have arbitrarily attributed to Fusus Helbling the specific epithets of species now placed in Colubrariidae, and we have attributed to Fusus Bruguière all the others.
 [details]
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