Triphoridae is a family of very small sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the informal group Ptenoglossa, within the clade Hypsogastropoda. Almost all the species in this family are micromollusks and almost all are left-handed in shell-coiling.[1]
Species of this family can be found worldwide, but the major part occurs in the Indo-Pacific Region. Most species live between the intertidal zone and offshore to a depth between 200 m to 500 mm (exceptionally below 1,000 m).
The shells of triphorids are small (between 2 mm and 10 mm - exceptionally 50 mm) and extremely high-spired, with numerous narrow whorls which often have distinctive sculpture. The majority of species in this family are left-handed or sinistral.
Facts about their taxonomy are rather scant, complicated by the high diversity and the intra- and inter-specific variability of the species. Most triphorid collections available in Museums of Natural History are still undescribed. [2]
Gründel (1975), stated that the correct family name is Triforidae Jousseaume, 1884 and not Triphoridae, but this is only true when the genera Triforis and Triphora are placed in the same family (Kosuge, 1976). Marshall (1980) however stated that the two genera need to be placed in two different families: the Triforidae and the Triphoridae.[1] WoRMS do not recognise these 3 subfamilies and consider them alternative representation of Triphoridae.[1]