Oscilla is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of very small sea snail

Snail

Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...

s, minute marine

Marine (ocean)

Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...

 gastropod mollusks or micromollusk

Micromollusk

A micromollusk is a descriptive term for a shelled mollusk which is extremely small, even at full adult size. The word is usually, but not exclusively, applied to marine mollusks, although in addition, numerous species of land snails and freshwater mollusks also reach adult size at very small...

s. It is currently placed in the subfamily Chrysallidinae

Chrysallidinae

Chrysallidinae is a taxonomic group of very small sea snails in the family Pyramidellidae.- Taxonomy :Chrysallidinae has been one of eleven recognized subfamilies of the gastropod family Pyramidellidae...

 of the family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Pyramidellidae

Pyramidellidae

Pyramidellidae, common name the pyram family, or pyramid shells, is a voluminous taxonomic family of mostly small and minute ectoparasitic sea snails, marine heterobranch gastropod molluscs or micromolluscs....

.

These marine gastropods have shells which have intorted protoconch

Protoconch

A protoconch is an embryonic or larval shell of some classes of molluscs, e.g., the initial chamber of an ammonite or the larval shell of a gastropod...

s.

Life history

Little is known about the biology of the members of this genus. As is true of most members of the Pyramidellidae

Pyramidellidae

Pyramidellidae, common name the pyram family, or pyramid shells, is a voluminous taxonomic family of mostly small and minute ectoparasitic sea snails, marine heterobranch gastropod molluscs or micromolluscs....

 sensu lato, they are likely to be ectoparasites.

Oscilla jocosa may possibly be a parasite on Trochus

Trochus

Trochus is a genus of medium-sized to very large sea snails. They are marine gastropod molluscs in the family Trochidae, the top snails....

 erithreus (Mienis 2003).

Species of Oscilla

• Oscilla cingulata (A. Adams, 1861) (Type species) (as Monoptygma (Oscilla) cingulata)
• Oscilla beccarii (Hormung & Mermod, 1924)
• Oscilla biseriata Gabb, 1881
• Oscilla circinata
  Oscilla circinata
  Oscilla circinata is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Pyramidellidae, the pyrams and their allies.-Description:The elongate-oval shell is subdiaphanous. It measures 2.1 mm...
  
  A. Adams, 1867
• Oscilla fallax Thiele, 1925
• Oscilla gumia
• Oscilla insculpta Carpenter
• Oscilla jocosa Melvill, 1904
• Oscilla laquearia
• Oscilla leviplex
• Oscilla lirata A. Adams
• Oscilla migma
• Oscilla niasensis Thiele, 1925
• Oscilla obtusantis
• Oscilla ongcopensis
• Oscilla pupula Thiele, 1925
• Oscilla sumatrana Thiele, 1925
• Oscilla tricordata (Nomura, 1938)
• Oscilla voorwindei (Laseron, 1959)

The European species have been revised by van Aartsen (1994).

External links

• Oscilla voorwindei
• Oscilla tricordata