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A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name snail is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have a coiled shell that is large enough for the animal to retract completely into. When the word "snail" is used in this most general sense, it includes not just land snails but also numerous species of sea snails and freshwater snails. Gastropods that naturally lack a shell, or have only an internal shell, are mostly called slugs, and land snails that have only a very small shell are often called semi-slugs.
The gastropods, commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda.
Nudibranchs are a group of soft-bodied, marine gastropod molluscs which 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," or "sea rabbit." Currently, about 3,000 valid species of nudibranchs are known.
Sea slug is a common name for some marine invertebrates with varying levels of resemblance to terrestrial slugs. Most creatures known as sea slugs are actually gastropods, i.e. they are sea snails that over evolutionary time have either completely lost their shells, or have seemingly lost their shells due to having a greatly reduced or internal shell. The name "sea slug" is most often applied to nudibranchs, as well as to a paraphyletic set of other marine gastropods without obvious shells.
Opisthobranchs is now an informal name for a large and diverse group of specialized complex gastropods which used to be united in the subclass Opisthobranchia. That taxon is no longer considered to represent a monophyletic grouping.
Sacoglossa, commonly known as the sacoglossans or the "sap-sucking sea slugs", are a clade of small sea slugs and sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks that belong to the clade Heterobranchia. Sacoglossans live by ingesting the cellular contents of algae, hence the adjective "sap-sucking".
Sea snail is a common name for slow moving marine gastropod molluscs usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the absence of a visible shell.
Polyceroidea is a taxonomic superfamily of sea slugs, specifically dorid nudibranchs, marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Doridacea.
Lower Heterobranchia, also known as the Allogastropoda, is a group of rather specialized, highly evolved sea slugs and sea snails, within the subclass Heterobranchia.
Juliidae, common name the bivalved gastropods, is a family of minute sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks or micromollusks in the superfamily Oxynooidea, an opisthobranch group. These are sacoglossan (sap-sucking) sea snails, and many of them are green in color.
Nudipleura are a clade of sea snails and sea slugs, marine gastropod mollusks within the large clade Heterobranchia.
The Ptenoglossa is an informal taxonomic group of sea snails. This group was considered paraphyletic or polyphyletic by Ponder and Lindberg (1997) in their classification of gastropod molluscs.
The Dexiarchia are a suborder of sea slugs, shell-less marine gastropod molluscs in the order Nudibranchia. This classification is based on the study by Schrödl et al., published in 2001, who recognized within this clade two clades Pseudoeuctenidiacea and Cladobranchia.
The Cladobranchia are a taxonomic clade of nudibranchs, sea slugs, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Dexiarchia.
Phyllidioidea is a taxonomic superfamily of colorful sea slugs, dorid nudibranchs, marine gastropod mollusks.
Fionoidea is a superfamily of small sea slugs, aeolid nudibranchs. They are gastropod mollusks within the infraorder Cladobranchia. The families within Fionoidea were shown to be monophyletic on DNA evidence and a re-interpretation of family characteristics was provided.
The Plakobranchacea are a taxonomic family of sea slugs, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Sacoglossa.
Heroidae is a family of sea slugs, nudibranchs, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Nudipleura. There are no subfamilies in Heroidae.
Okadaiidae is a family of sea slugs, dorid nudibranchs, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Polyceroidea. This family is within the clade Euctenidiacea.
Terrestrial molluscs or land molluscs (mollusks) are an ecological group that includes all molluscs that live on land in contrast to freshwater and marine molluscs.
References
- ↑ Bouchet, P. & Rocroi, J.-P. (2005). "Classification and Nomenclator of Gastropod Families". Malacologia. 47 (1–2).
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