Amalda is a genus of medium-sized sea snails, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Ancillariidae, the olives and allies.

Description

The thin shell is not umbilicated. The spire is elongated with the suture enamelled. The primary spire callus covers most of the spire, including at least part of the protoconch, leaving in most cases only the first protoconch whorl exposed. The inner lip has the callus moderate, defined. The outer lip is simple.

Distribution

These snails usually live in the sand in fairly shallow water in tropical and temperate regions of the world with a particularly rich fauna in Australia and the Indo-West Pacific. Most species are predators of marine bivalves. In general, both shallow and deep-water species of Amalda tend to have relatively narrow distribution ranges within the Indo-Pacific, where local faunas are often dominated by narrow endemics, particularly in South Africa and, to a lesser extent, Australia. While some species exhibit broader distributions—such as A. hinomotoensis, found from Japan to Taiwan, and A. mamillata, present in regions including Indonesia, the Strait of Malacca, Vietnam, and the China Seas (Gratecap 2016b)—such broad distributions should be interpreted with caution.

Species

Species within the genus Amalda include:

Species brought into synonymy