Misplaced Pages

Desmopteridae

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Family of gastropods

Desmopteridae
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Clade: Euopisthobranchia
Order: Pteropoda
Superfamily: Cymbulioidea
Family: Desmopteridae
Chun, 1889

Desmopteridae is a family of pelagic sea snails or "sea butterflies", marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Cymbulioidea.

This family has no subfamilies (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).

Desmopterus Chun, 1889 is the type genus of the family Desmopteridae.

The species are protandric hermaphrodites. There is no shell, no protoconch and no longer any supporting tissue. The body consists almost completely of the two big parapodia (winglike flaps).

Species

Species within the genus Desmopterus include:

  • Desmopterus cirropterus Gegenbaur, 1855
  • Desmopterus gardineri Tesch, 1910 - Distribution: Indian Ocean.
  • Desmopterus pacificus Essenberg, 1919 - Distribution: California, Oceanic. Description: shorter wing plate tentacles.
  • Desmopterus papilio Chun, 1889 Distribution: Seychelles, Florida, Bermuda, Venezuela, Brazil, Adriatic Sea, tropical and subtropical oceanic waters. Length: body length between 0.5 – 2.0 mm, swimming wings between 2.0- 4.0 mm. Description: There is no shell. The animal has wings that are disc-shaped and transparent. The body is large and situated centrally between the lateral wings. These can unite to form a plate with on each side long, ciliated tentacles trailing behind. Most of the time, Desmopterus papilio hangs motionless, but flaps away in a loop pattern when disturbed. There are reddish-brown spots at the margin of the wings.

References

  1. Bouchet, Philippe; Rocroi, Jean-Pierre; Frýda, Jiri; Hausdorf, Bernard; Ponder, Winston; Valdés, Ángel & Warén, Anders (2005). "Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families". Malacologia. 47 (1–2). Hackenheim, Germany: ConchBooks: 1–397. ISBN 3-925919-72-4. ISSN 0076-2997.
  2. Gofas, S. (2010). Desmopterus cirropterus Gegenbaur, 1855. In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. (2010) World Marine Mollusca database. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=139541 on 2010-12-18
  3. WoRMS (2010). Desmopterus gardineri Tesch, 1910. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=420560 on 2010-12-18
  4. Gofas, S. (2010). Desmopterus papilio Chun, 1889. In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. (2010) World Marine Mollusca database. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=139542 on 2010-12-18

Further reading

  • Sakthivel M. (1972). "Studies on Desmopterus Chun, 1889 species in the Indian Ocean". 'Meteor' Forschungsergebnisse (D)10: 46-57, 8 figs.
Taxon identifiers
Desmopteridae
Categories: