The family volutidae are a large and diverse family of charismatic mollusks. They range from tiny sizes from 9mm to 500mm. This family contains more than 200 species and many are endemic, especially to the Australian continent. They would have been my favourite family, but this is an expensive family to collect. Many are rare and endemic but they are very beautiful.

All volutes are carnivorous, feeding on other mollusks and echinoderms. They are found intertidally till very deep up to 500m. They usually lie buried in the sand and I have found Cymbiola nobilis lying half buried in sand during the day as well as Melo melo. Their young are direct developers and this attributes to their small range and endemism.

The sub-family Amoriinae consist of the beautiful and desirable Cymbiola and Amoria volutes much prized for their fantastic patterns and colours. They also contain the melon volutes, which are one of the largest gastropods on the planet, growing up to 500mm in length.