Onchidiidae | |
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A live but partially retracted individual of Onchidella sp. | |
A live and active individual of Onchidella nigricans | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
Order: | Systellommatophora |
Superfamily: | Onchidioidea Rafinesque, 1815 |
Family: | Onchidiidae Rafinesque, 1815 [1] |
Genera | |
See text | |
Synonyms | |
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Onchidiidae are a family of small, air-breathing sea (and land) slugs. They are shell-less marine (except for two species) [2] pulmonate gastropod molluscs. Onchidiidae is the only family within the superfamily Onchidioidea.
These animals are quite unusual in that they are emphatically not opisthobranchs with gills, as are almost all of the sea slugs. Instead these creatures are pulmonates. They are more closely related to air-breathing land and freshwater snails and slugs than they are to most other sea snails and sea slugs.
This family has no subfamilies (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).
143 species names were created within the Onchidiidae, [2] but until recently few species could be identified. In the late 1920s Hoffmann revised the family (based on the descriptions), and classified the described species into genera. [3] Labbé later continued the revision and named many new genera in his classification of onchidiid slugs. [4] Labbé also made mistakes in describing the anatomy of some species, [5] and the Onchidiidae was not revised again for over 80 years. The genus Onchidium was revised in 2016 based on natural history, comparative anatomy, and DNA sequences. [6] This was followed by revisions of the other onchidiid genera [7] [8] [9] [10] , and the descriptions of onchidiid species in several new genera. [5] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]
Adult onchidiids lack a shell, although a shell [16] and operculum is present at the larval stage. The mantle cavity is reduced to the point of absence, correlating with a loss of gills, raphes, and other characters usually found in the mantle cavity. The organism is completely detorted. [17]
Slugs in this family make and use love darts made of chitin. [18]
In this family, the number of haploid chromosomes lies between 16 and 20 (according to the values in this table). [19]
Most of the species in this family are marine and are found in the intertidal zone. Many species live on rocky coasts, while others live in mangrove forests which may be marine or brackish. [6] Onchidium stuxbergi (as E. ajuthiae, synonym in literature) was previously considered to be a fresh water species, but the species is now recognized to be found in brackish water habitats. [6]
Remarkably, some onchidiid species are completely terrestrial. [20] Semperoncis montana (synonym in literature: Platevindex apoikistes and Semperella montana) and Platevindex ponsonbyi are the only known terrestrial species in the Onchidiidae. [2] They live in high-elevation rainforests in Borneo and the Philippines. [2]
All these slugs breathe air. The marine ones breathe and move around and feed during low tide, when the water recedes and the slugs are exposed to the air.
Genera in the family Onchidiidae include:
Onchidium stuxbergi is a species of air-breathing sea slug, a shell-less brackish water pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Onchidiidae.
Onchidium griseofuscum is regarded as a nomen dubium.
Onchidium reevesii is a species of air-breathing sea slug, a shell-less marine pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Onchidiidae. It is one of four recognized species in the genus Onchidium.
Marmaronchis vaigiensis is a species of air-breathing sea slug, a shell-less marine pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Onchidiidae.
Onchidium typhae is a species of air-breathing sea slug, a shell-less brackish water pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Onchidiidae.
Peronia indica is a species of air-breathing sea slug, a shell-less marine pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Onchidiidae.
Onchidium is a genus of air-breathing sea slugs, shell-less marine pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Onchidiidae.
Onchidina is a monotypic genus of air-breathing sea slugs, a shell-less marine pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Onchidiidae. Its sole member is the species Onchidina australis. Uniquely within the Onchidiidae, O. australis lives above the tidal zone in a fully terrestrial habitat.
Peronia is a genus of air-breathing sea slugs, a shell-less marine pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Onchidiidae. These slugs differ from other onchidiid slugs in having branched "gills" on their dorsal side, although these can be retracted. More than two dozen species of Peronia have been described from the Indo-West Pacific, but a recent revision of the genus determined that 21 of these names are synonyms. Nine species of Peronia are recognized, most of which can differentiated only by examining their internal anatomy or with DNA sequencing.
Peronina is a genus of air-breathing sea slugs, a shell-less marine pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Onchidiidae.
Platevindex is a genus of air-breathing sea slugs, a shell-less marine pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Onchidiidae.
Platevindex luteus is a species of air-breathing sea slug, a shell-less marine pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Onchidiidae.
Paromoionchis is a genus of air-breathing sea slugs, shell-less marine pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the family Onchidiidae. Most Paromoionchis species live on the mud in mangrove forests in the Indo-West Pacific.
Paromoionchis tumidus is a species of small, air-breathing sea slug, a shell-less marine pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Onchidiidae.
Platevindex burnupi is a species of air-breathing sea slug, a shell-less marine pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Onchidiidae.
Platevindex tigrinus is a species of air-breathing sea slug, a shell-less marine pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Onchidiidae.
Wallaconchis is a genus of air-breathing sea slugs, a shell-less marine pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Onchidiidae.
Wallaconchis graniferus is a species of air-breathing sea slug, a shell-less marine pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Onchidiidae.
Marmaronchis is a genus of air-breathing sea slugs, a shell-less marine pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Onchidiidae.
Peronia platei is a species of slug, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Onchidiidae, one of the families of sea slugs. Nine species of Peronia are recognized; the way to tell them apart is by DNA sequencing by mitochondrial and nuclear sequence or checking their internal anatomy. This species has hermaphroditic parts in the posterior regions of the deferent duct and straight oviduct. The male part is the muscular sac of the accessory penial gland in the anterior area. It is distributed across the entire tropical and subtropical Indo-West Pacific, from South Africa to Hawaii.