The Thecosomata, or sea butterflies, are a taxonomic suborder of small, pelagic, free-swimming sea snails known as holoplanktonic opisthobranch gastropod mollusks, in the order Pteropoda. Most pteropods have some form of calcified shell, although it is often very light, even translucent.
Zooplankton are the animal component of the planktonic community, having to consume other organisms to thrive. Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents. Consequently, they drift or are carried along by currents in the ocean, or by currents in seas, lakes or rivers.
Copepods are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat. Some species are planktonic, some are benthic, a number of species have parasitic phases, and some continental species may live in limnoterrestrial habitats and other wet terrestrial places, such as swamps, under leaf fall in wet forests, bogs, springs, ephemeral ponds, puddles, damp moss, or water-filled recesses of plants (phytotelmata) such as bromeliads and pitcher plants. Many live underground in marine and freshwater caves, sinkholes, or stream beds. Copepods are sometimes used as biodiversity indicators.
Nudibranchs belong to the order Nudibranchia, a group of soft-bodied marine gastropod molluscs that shed their shells after their larval stage. They are noted for their often extraordinary colours and striking forms, and they have been given colourful nicknames to match, such as "clown", "marigold", "splendid", "dancer", "dragon", and "sea rabbit". Currently, about 3,000 valid species of nudibranchs are known.
Limacina is a genus of swimming predatory sea snails commonly known as sea butterflies in the family Limacinidae. This genus contains some of the world's most abundant gastropod species.
Holoplankton are organisms that are planktic for their entire life cycle. Holoplankton can be contrasted with meroplankton, which are planktic organisms that spend part of their life cycle in the benthic zone. Examples of holoplankton include some diatoms, radiolarians, some dinoflagellates, foraminifera, amphipods, krill, copepods, and salps, as well as some gastropod mollusk species. Holoplankton dwell in the pelagic zone as opposed to the benthic zone. Holoplankton include both phytoplankton and zooplankton and vary in size. The most common plankton are protists.
Charonia is a genus of very large sea snail, commonly known as Triton's trumpet or Triton snail. They are marine gastropod mollusks in the monotypic family Charoniidae.
Atlantidae is a family of sea snails, holoplanktonic gastropod molluscs in the clade Littorinimorpha.
Carinariidae, known by the common name "heteropods" like their relatives in the Pterotracheoidea, is a taxonomic family of swimming or floating sea snails, pelagic marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Littorinimorpha.
Carinaria is a genus of medium-sized floating sea snails, pelagic gastropod molluscs in the family Carinariidae.
Janthina is a genus of small to medium-sized pelagic or planktonic sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Epitoniidae.
Janthina janthina is a species of holoplanktonic sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Epitoniidae. Its common names include violet sea-snail, common violet snail, large violet snail and purple storm snail.
The Pterotracheoidea is, according to the Taxonomy of the Gastropoda, a taxonomic superfamily of sea snails or sea slugs, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Littorinimorpha. They are commonly called heteropods or sea elephants.
Carinaria lamarckii is a species of sea gastropod, a holoplanktonic marine gastropod mollusk in the family Carinariidae.
Carinaria pseudorugosa is a species of sea gastropod, a holoplanktonic marine gastropod mollusk in the family Carinariidae.
Cephalopyge trematoides is a pelagic species of nudibranch. A free-swimming marine gastropod in the family Phylliroidae. Cephalopyge trematoides is the only known species in its genus.
Carinaria galea, common name the helmeted carinaria, is a species of sea snail, a marine pelagic marine gastropod mollusc in the family Carinariidae. It was first described in 1835 by William Henry Benson, an amateur malacologist in the Bengal Civil Service.
Firoloida is a monotypic genus of pelagic marine gastropod mollusc in the family Pterotracheidae, with the only species in the genus being Firoloida desmarestia. This shell-less mollusc is found in tropical and sub-tropical waters in the epipelagic zone of the world's oceans.
Paguristes eremita, the eye spot hermit crab, is a species of hermit crab in the family Diogenidae. It is found in the Mediterranean Sea.
Lamellaria perspicua, commonly known as the transparent lamellaria, is a species of small, slug-like sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Velutinidae. It is native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, where it feeds on colonial ascidians.
