Auger Shells of the Terebridae Family

Three Auger Shells of the Terebridae Family can be found in this website:

The Terebridae Family (Mӧrch, 1852) are gastropod mollusks that are Auger Shells that consists of five hundred and eight-nine species in nineteen genera that have been placed in three subfamilies, the Pellifroniinae (that has two genea and sic shells), the Pervicaciinae (that has two genera and ninety-one shells) and the Terebrinae (that has fifteen genera and four hundred and ninety-two shells). They are similar in shape and easily confused with the Tower or Turret Shells of the Turritellidae Family. The Augers have a more irregular shaped aperture that always descends to a siphon canal or notch. Also, the whorls of Auger Shells are more convex than the flat-sided whorls of the Tower Shells.

The Auger Shells are elongated shells with a very high, many  whorled, spire and a small body whorl. They have external sculpting that consists of spiral and/or length-wise ridges, or knobs. The outer lip of the aperture is unsculpted and sturdy, but thin; the interior lip may be marked with folds. Some species have a fairly polished exterior surface. Tropical species may be brightly colored and are not covered with a periostracum. Auger Shells can range in size from small to large. Auger Shells are usually found just under the surface of sand or muddy sandy substrate. They prey on polychaetes, and other worms, utilizing a barbed radular tooth that injects paralyzing venom into their prey. In turn Auger Shells are eaten by crabs, fish, and predatory mollusks. They are found globally in all tropical and temperate seas, intertidally to depths up to 300 m (1,000 feet). Thirty-one members of the Terebridae Family are found along the coastlines of the Baja Peninsula.