Belongs within: Rapaninae.
Nassa is a genus of marine gastropods found in the tropical Indo-Pacific, living under stones and coral in intertidal and shallow sublittoral waters. The genus has a history of confusion with species now included in the genus Nassarius, in the distinct superfamily Buccinoidea, owing to the close publication of homonymous genera. The western Pacific Nassa serta bears strongly beaded spiral ribs on the shell (Wilson & Gillett 1971).
Characters (Wilson & Gillett 1971): Ovate, spire moderately high. Whorls rounded. Anterior canal broad, posterior canal not notched into lip but formed behind large opposing denticles on parietal wall and outer lip.
<==Nassa Röding 1798RD75 [incl. Jopas Adams & Adams 1853W94]
|--N. serta (Bruguière 1789)WG71 [=Buccinum sertumRD75, *Jopas sertumW94, Purpura sertumRD75; incl. *Nassa picta Röding 1798RD75]
|--N. ambiguaC64
|--N. antillarumG79
|--N. collariaC64
|--N. complanata [incl. N. scabriuscula, N. wilsoni]C64
|--N. corniculumD56
|--N. corpulentaC64
|--N. elegans Sowerby 1824M79b
|--N. fasciataTW76
|--N. fossataM79b (see below for synonymy)
|--N. francoindica Martin 1919 [=N. ovum Cossmann 1902 (preoc.)]F27
|--N. francolina (Bruguière 1789)WG71
|--N. gaudiosaS13
|--N. gemmulataF66
|--N. gibberulaPP64
|--N. incisa [=Clathurella incisa; incl. C. cingulata]H86a
|--N. incrassata [=Buccinum incrassatum; incl. B. ascanias, B. coccinella, B. macula]J64
|--N. insculpta Carpenter 1864C64
|--N. jhoniBBB-S95
|--N. lunataC64
|--N. luteostoma Broserip & Sowerby 1829BS29
|--N. marginulata [incl. N. australis Adams 1853, N. marginulata var. hepatica]H08
|--N. mendica [=N. (Tritia) mendica; incl. N. gibbesii, N. interstriata Conrad 1855, N. woodwardi Fbs. 1850]C64
|--N. microstoma Pease 1860K65 [=Arcularia mirostomaH09]
|--N. moreleti Crosse 1868M79b
|--N. nodocinctaC64
|--N. obsoletaD56
|--N. obliqua Pease 1865K65
|--N. olivaceaF66
|--N. pagodus [incl. N. acuta, N. canescens, N. decussata]C64
|--N. papillosaS13
|--N. pedroana Conrad 1855C64
|--N. pygmaeaPP64
|--N. scabriusculaC64
|--N. stimpsonianaC64
|--N. taeniaF66
|--N. tasmanica Tenison Woods 1876TW76
|--N. tatei Tenison-Woods 1878F71 [incl. N. socialisH86b]
|--N. tegulaC64
|--N. trifasciata [incl. N. rutilans, N. unicolora, N. unicolorata]M79a
|--N. trivittataC64
`--N. versicolor [incl. N. crebristriata, N. proxima, N. striata]C64
Nassa fossataM79b [=Buccinum fossatumC64, Tritia fossataM79b; incl. Buccinum elegans Reeve 1842C64, Nassa elegans non Sowerby 1824C64, Taphon elegansM79b]
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[BBB-S95] Boubezari, K., G. Bitar & D. Bellan-Santini. 1995. Structure et organisation de trois moulières (Mytilus galloprovincialis et Perna perna) de la région d’Alger. Mésogée 54: 63–72.
[BS29] Broderip, W. J., & G. B. Sowerby. 1829. Observations on new or interesting Mollusca contained, for the most part, in the Museum of the Zoological Society. Zoological Journal 4: 359–379, pl. 9.
[C64] Carpenter, P. P. 1864. Supplementary report on the present state of our knowledge with regard to the Mollusca of the west coast of North America. Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science 33: 517–686.
[D56] Dawes, B. 1956. The Trematoda with special reference to British and other European forms 2nd ed. University Press: Cambridge.
[F27] Finlay, H. J. 1927. New specific names for austral Mollusca. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 57: 488–533.
[F71] Fletcher, H. O. 1971. Catalogue of type specimens of fossils in the Australian Museum, Sydney. Australian Museum Memoir 13: 1–167.
[F66] Fraser, L. 1866. Communication of a list of mollusks collected by R. Swinhoe, Esq., in Formosa. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 146.
[G79] Guppy, R. J. L. 1879. First sketch of a marine invertebrate fauna of the Gulf of Paria and its neighbourhood. Part I.—Mollusca. Journal of Conchology 2: 151–172.
[H08] Hedley, C. 1908. Studies on Australian Mollusca. Part X. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 33: 456–489, pls 7–10.
[H09] Hedley, C. 1909. The Marine Fauna of Queensland: Address by the President of Section D. Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science: Brisbane.
[H86a] Hutton, F. W. 1886a. The Mollusca of the Pareora and Oamaru systems of New Zealand. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 1 (1): 205–237.
[H86b] Hutton, F. W. 1886b. Notes on some Australian Tertiary fossils. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 1 (2): 481–482.
[J64] Jeffreys, J. G. 1864. The Upper Tertiary fossils at Uddevalla, in Sweden. Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science 33 (Notices and Abstracts): 73–79.
[K65] Kay, E. A. 1965. Marine molluscs in the Cuming collection, British Museum (Natural History) described by William Harper Pease. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History): Zoology Supplement 1: 1–96, 14 pls.
[M79a] Marrat, F. P. 1879a. Nassa trifasciata, Gmelin. Journal of Conchology 2: 78.
[M79b] Marrat, F. P. 1879b. Note on Nassa elegans, Sow. Journal of Conchology 2: 78–79.
[PP64] Peres, J. M., & J. Picard. 1964. Nouveau manuel de bionomie benthique de la mer Mediterranee. Recueil des Travaux de la Station Marine d’Endoume, Bulletin 31 (27): 5–137.
[RD75] Radwin, G. E., & A. D’Attilio. 1975. A catalogue of muricacean generic taxa. Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History 17 (20): 279–292.
[S13] Smith, E. A. 1913. On a small collection of marine shells from Henderson Island. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, series 8, 12: 409–415, pl. 9.
[TW76] Tenison Woods, J. E. 1876. Description of new Tasmanian shells. Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 1875: 134–162.
[W94] Wilson, B. 1994. Australian Marine Shells vol. 2. Prosobranch Gastropods. Part Two (Neogastropods). Odyssey Publishing: Kallaroo (Western Australia).
[WG71] Wilson, B. R., & K. Gillett. 1971. Australian Shells: illustrating and describing 600 species of marine gastropods found in Australian waters. A. H. & A. W. Reed: Sydney.