Siphonariidae
Encyclopedia
Siphonariidae is a taxonomic family
of small to medium-sized air-breathing sea snail
s, marine and brackish water
pulmonate gastropod molluscs. These snails are sometimes known as "false limpet
s" because of the shape of the shell, but they are not at all closely related to true limpets. They breathe with a lung, not with gills, and are more closely related to freshwater air-breathing snails such as Lymnaea
.
or pulmonary orifice.
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of small to medium-sized air-breathing sea snail
Snail
Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...
s, marine and brackish water
Brackish water
Brackish water is water that has more salinity than fresh water, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing of seawater with fresh water, as in estuaries, or it may occur in brackish fossil aquifers. The word comes from the Middle Dutch root "brak," meaning "salty"...
pulmonate gastropod molluscs. These snails are sometimes known as "false limpet
Limpet
Limpet is a common name for a number of different kinds of saltwater and freshwater snails ; it is applied to those snails that have a simple shell which is more or less conical in shape, and either is not spirally coiled, or appears not to be coiled in the adult snails.The name limpet is most...
s" because of the shape of the shell, but they are not at all closely related to true limpets. They breathe with a lung, not with gills, and are more closely related to freshwater air-breathing snails such as Lymnaea
Lymnaea
Lymnaea is a genus of small to large-sized air-breathing freshwater snails, aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Lymnaeidae, the pond snails.Lymnaea is the type genus of the family Lymnaeidae.-Species:...
.
Shell description
Empty siphonariid limpet shells can be distinguished from true limpet shells by examining the interior. In the siphonariids there is a well-marked lateral groove on the right side of the shell, and a corresponding interruption of the ring of muscle attachment scars. These markers show the positioning of the pneumostomePneumostome
The pneumostome is a feature of the external body anatomy of an air-breathing land slug or land snail. It is a part of the respiratory system of gastropods....
or pulmonary orifice.
Genera
Genera in the family Siphonariidae include:- Anthosiphonaria Kuroda & Habe, 1971 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?mode=Info&id=55524&lvl=3&p=mapview&p=has_linkout&p=blast_url&p=genome_blast&lin=f&keep=1&srchmode=1&unlock
- Aporemodon Robson, 1913
- Benhamina Finlay, 1927 - with the only one species Benhamina obliquataBenhamina obliquataBenhamina obliquata is a species of air-breathing sea snail, a false limpet, a marine pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Siphonariidae.This species is very large compared with the other species in the family....
(G. B. Sowerby I, 1825) - KerguelenellaKerguelenellaKerguelenella is a genus of air-breathing sea snails, marine pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Siphonariidae, the false limpets.-Distribution:...
Powell, 1946 - synonym: Kerguelenia Mabille & Rochebrune, 1889 - Liriola Dall, 1870
- Pugillaria Iredale, 1924
- SiphonariaSiphonariaSiphonaria is a genus of air-breathing sea snails or false limpets, marine pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the family Siphonariidae, the false limpets.-Distribution:This genus occurs worldwide in most tropical and temperate seas.-Species:...
G. B. Sowerby I, 1823 - type genus of the family Siphonariidae - Williamia Monterosato, 1884 - synonyms: Allerya Mörch, 1877; Brondelia Bourguignat, 1862; Parascutum Cossmann, 1890; Roya Iredale, 1912; Scutulum Monterosato, 1877.
Further reading
- Powell A W BArthur William Baden PowellDr Arthur William Baden Powell CBE was a New Zealand malacologist, naturalist and palaeontologist, a major influence in the study and classification of New Zealand molluscs through much of the twentieth century. He was known to his friends and family by his third name, "Baden".Powell was born at...
, New Zealand Mollusca, William Collins Publishers LtdHarperCollinsHarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1 - Vaught, K.C. (1989). A classification of the living Mollusca. American Malacologists: Melbourne, FL (USA). ISBN 0-915826-22-4. XII, 195 pp.