Pleurotomariidae

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Pleurotomariidae
Temporal range: Upper Cambrian–Holocene
Entemnotrochus rumphii.jpg
Apertural view of a shell of Entemnotrochus rumphii
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Vetigastropoda
Order: Pleurotomariida
Superfamily: Pleurotomarioidea
Family: Pleurotomariidae
Swainson, 1840
Genera

See text

Pleurotomariidae, common name the "slit snails", is a family of large marine gastropods in the superfamily Pleurotomarioidea of the subclass Vetigastropoda. [1] This family is a very ancient lineage; there were numerous species in the geological past. The genus includes several hundred fossil forms, mostly Paleozoic. It is one of the oldest gastropod families, commencing in the Cambrian. [2]

Contents

The superfamily is currently represented by a group of species that live only in deep water. This family has no subfamilies.

The first living specimens of a species in this family, Perotrochus quoyanus , were dredged in 1879 in deep water off the West Indies by the "Blake" expedition of William Healey Dall. [3]

Description

The shell has a trochoidal shape. It is nacreous within. It is umbilicate or imperforate, having a deep slit or sinus in the outer superior margin of the peristome, which serves the purpose of an exhalant phase of respiration., and leaves on the corresponding part of the whorls a peculiarly sculptured band, the "anal fasciole" or the "slit fasciole." The slit is sealed up gradually behind the advancing aperture as the shells grows in size.

The animal has no frontal lobes or appendages. The eyes are situated at the outer bases of the tentacles. The muzzle is as in Trochidae. The tentacles are long, subcylindrical and bluntly pointed. The broad epipodium (the lateral grooves between foot and mantle) is thin, entire, and fringed with a row of small, short papillae. But it does bear cirri. It is closely applied to the shell. The long radula has a long, narrow rhachidian tooth. It is lanceolate with its tip narrowand recurved. There are 26 laterals with the outer 5 without cusps. The inner ones are larger, with wide cusps and narrower bases. The outside of the laterals consists of 2 rows of uncini (the numerous small teeth-like or hook-like structures). The inner series number 18 and are large, strongly curved, and with scythe-shaped 1-3 denticulate cusps. The outer uncini are very numerous (40-50), small, very oblique. In Entemnotrochus adansonianus (Crosse & P. Fischer, 1861) there are considerable differences in the teeth. Some of the uncini bear little tufts of bristles at their apices. The jaws are subobsolete. [2]

Fossil record

The Pleurotomariidae have a continuous fossil record from the Upper Cambrian onwards. After taking a considerable hit during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, they have been restricted to deeper waters through the Cenozoic. [4] In 2009, a new study in the Journal of Paleontology described the first occurrence of Mesozoic pleurotomariids from Antarctica. [5]

Ecology

Species in the family Pleurotomariidae live at depths of 150–300 m as benthos on the bottom in the mesopelagic zone. They are preyed upon by crustacea and fish, but are remarkably resistant to attack — they secrete a white fluid when endangered, thought to repel predators. They feed primarily on sponges, and supplement their diet with crinoids and octocorals in the wild; in aquaria, they also feed on fish and clam tissue. [4]

Genera

Genera within the Pleurotomariidae include:

Related Research Articles

The radula is an anatomical structure used by mollusks for feeding, sometimes compared to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food enters the esophagus. The radula is unique to the mollusks, and is found in every class of mollusk except the bivalves, which instead use cilia, waving filaments that bring minute organisms to the mouth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cocculinoidea</span> Superfamily of gastropods

The Cocculinoidea is a superfamily of deepwater limpets, the only superfamily in the order Cocculinida, one of the main orders of gastropods according to the taxonomy as set up by. The clade Cocciliniformia used to be designated as a superorder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hydrocenidae</span> Family of gastropods

Hydrocenidae is a taxonomic family of minute land snails or cave snails with an operculum, terrestrial gastropod mollusks or micromollusks in the clade Cycloneritimorpha.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fissurellidae</span> Family of limpet-like sea snails

Fissurellidae, common name the keyhole limpets and slit limpets, is a taxonomic family of limpet-like sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Vetigastropoda. Their common name derives from the small hole in the apex of their cone-like shells. Although superficially resembling "true" limpets, they are in fact not closely related to them.

Stomatellinae is a subfamily of small sea snails with a brilliantly nacreous interior of the shell, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Trochidae, the top snails.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pseudococculinidae</span> Family of gastropods

Pseudococculinidae is a family of small sea snails or false limpets, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Lepetelloidea.

<i>Perotrochus</i> Genus of gastropods

Perotrochus is a genus of large sea snails with gills and an operculum, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Pleurotomariidae, the slit snails,.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pleurotomariacea</span> Superfamily of molluscs

Pleurotomariacea is one of two names that are used for a taxonomic superfamily of sea snails that are an ancient lineage and are well represented in the fossil record. The name Pleurotomariacea is used by paleontologists, who, because they usually have only the hard parts of mollusks to study, often use a slightly different scheme of classification from that used by scientists who study living mollusks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vetigastropoda</span> Clade of sea snails

Vetigastropoda is a major taxonomic group of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks that form a very ancient lineage. Taxonomically the Vetigastropoda are sometimes treated as an order, although they are treated as an unranked clade in Bouchet and Rocroi, 2005.

<i>Entemnotrochus rumphii</i> Species of mollusc

Entemnotrochus rumphii, common name the Rumphius' slit shell, is a species of large sea snail with gills and an operculum, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Pleurotomariidae, the slit snails.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pleurotomarioidea</span> Superfamily of gastropods

Pleurotomarioidea is a superfamily of small to large marine gastropods included in the order Pleurotomariida of the subclass Vetigastropoda.

<i>Entemnotrochus adansonianus</i> Species of gastropod

Entemnotrochus adansonianus, common name Adanson's slit shell, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Pleurotomariidae.

<i>Mikadotrochus beyrichii</i> Species of gastropod

Mikadotrochus beyrichii, common name Beyrich's slit shell, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Pleurotomariidae.

<i>Anatoma crispata</i> Species of gastropod

Anatoma crispata is a species of minute sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk or micromollusk in the family Anatomidae.

<i>Pleurotomaria</i> Extinct genus of gastropods

Pleurotomaria is an extinct genus of sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Pleurotomariidae.

<i>Calliostoma cinctellum</i> Species of gastropod

Calliostoma cinctellum is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Calliostomatidae.

<i>Bayerotrochus teramachii</i> Species of gastropod

Bayerotrochus teramachii, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Pleurotomariidae.

<i>Perotrochus deforgesi</i> Species of gastropod

Perotrochus deforgesi is a species of large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Pleurotomariidae, the slit snails.

<i>Perotrochus maureri</i> Species of gastropod

Perotrochus maureri is a species of large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Pleurotomariidae, the slit snails.

<i>Perotrochus quoyanus</i> Species of gastropod

Perotrochus quoyanus is a species of large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Pleurotomariidae, the slit snails.

References

  1. ↑ Frýda J.; Hausdorf B.; Ponder W.; Valdes A.; Warén A. (2005). Bouchet P.; Rocroi J.-P. (eds.). Taxonomy of the Gastropoda. Hackenheim, Germany.: ConchBooks. p. 397. ISBN   3-925919-72-4. ISSN   0076-2997.
  2. 1 2 G.W. Tryon (1890), Manual of Conchology vol. XII, p. 69
  3. ↑ Annals & Magazine of Natural History
  4. 1 2 Harasewych, M. (2002). "Pleurotomarioidean gastropods". Molluscan Radiation - Lesser-known Branches. Advances in Marine Biology. Vol. 42. pp. 237–294. doi:10.1016/S0065-2881(02)42015-9. ISBN   9780120261420. ISSN   0065-2881. PMID   12094724.
  5. ↑ M.G. Harsewych, Anton Oleinik and William Zinmeister (2009) The Cretaceous and Paleocene pleuromariid (Gastropoda:Vetigastropoda_ fauna of Seymour Island, Antarctica. Journal of Paleontology 83 (5):750-766. doi : 10.1666/09-004.1
  6. ↑ Begg J. G. & Grant-Mackie J. A. (2006). "Mamoeatomaria, a new name for the Triassic gastropod Mamoea Begg & Grant-Mackie, 2003, pre-occupied (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Pleurotomariidae)". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 36(4): 1175-8899. doi : 10.1080/03014223.2006.9517807.
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