Volutidae

The shells have an elongated aperture in their first whorl and an inner lip characterised by a number of deep plaits.

The family of Volutidae comprises a suite of large shells remarkable for their great beauty and elegance of form.

The shell of species such as Melo amphora can grow as large as 50 cm (19.7 inches) in length.

[2] Volutes are distinguished by their distinctively marked spiral shells (to which the family name refers, voluta meaning "scroll" in Latin).

The elaborate decorations of the shells has made them a popular collectors' item, with the imperial volute (Voluta imperialis) of the Philippines being particularly prized.

Apertural view of a shell of Scaphella junonia
Livonia mammilla (Sowerby, 1844), museum specimen.
Two views of a shell of Scaphella lamberti , and in the center, a cut-down shell showing the folds on the columella