The history of the name Nassa is rather confused, because the name was allocated twice:
Nassa Röding, 1798 for mainly muricid species with the type species : Nassa picta Röding, 1798 (= Nassa serta (Bruguière, 1798).
Nassa Lamarck, 1799 : established for the species Buccinum mutabile Linnaeus, 1758, which is now classified as a synonym of Nassarius Duméril, 1805 in the family
Nassariidae.
In the 19th and much of the 20th century, all species that were added to the genus Nassa were Nassa mud snails belonging to the family Nassariidae. After the rediscovery of
Röding's catalogue of his collection Museum Boltenianum sive catalogus cimeliorum e tribus regnis naturæ quæ olim collegerat Joa. Fried Bolten, M. D. p. d. per XL. annos proto physicus Hamburgensis. Pars secunda continens conchylia sive testacea univalvia, bivalvia & multivalvia, the muricid genus Nassa Röding, 1798 was given priority over the genus Nassa named by Lamarck.
Nassa Lamarck was then synonymized with its oldest synonym Nassarius Duméril, 1806 by a ruling of the
ICZN Op. 96, Direction 48 (21 Nov 1956)[2] and then to Nassarius (Sphaeronassa) Locard, 1886.[3]
Description
(Described as Iopas) The shell is ovate and rugose. The
body whorl is large. The
spire is acuminate. The
aperture is moderate, emarginate and channelled in front. The inner
lip is covered with a thin enamel, and with a prominent plait-like callosity at the hind part. The
columella is rounded and subtruncate anteriorly. The outer lip is sinuous and crenate internally.[4]
Houart R. (1996) The genus Nassa Röding 1798 in the Indo-West Pacific (Gastropoda: Prosobranchia: Muricidae: Rapaninae). Archiv für Molluskenkunde 126(1-2):51-63
Claremont M., Vermeij G.J., Williams S.T. & Reid D.G. (2013) Global phylogeny and new classification of the Rapaninae (Gastropoda: Muricidae), dominant molluscan predators on tropical rocky seashores. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 66: 91–102.