''Abyssochrysos melanioides'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

sea snail 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 ...

, a marine

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Abyssochrysidae Abyssochrysidae is a family of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Caenogastropoda (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005). Taxonomy The family Abyssochrysidae was previously placed in the "Zygop ...

. This is the

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...

for which Tomlin created a new family Abyssochrisidae, but couldn't refer at the time to any superfamily. Some years later he thought it had any affinities with the families

Littorinidae The Littorinidae are a taxonomic family of over 200 species of sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Littorinimorpha, commonly known as periwinkles and found worldwide. Names In English-speaking countries, gastropod molluscs from o ...

Children, 1834 and

Thiaridae Thiaridae, common name thiarids or trumpet snails, is a family of tropical freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Cerithioidea. MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Thiaridae Gill, 1871 (1823). A ...

Gill, 1871 (1823). Houbrick (1979) brought the then known species of ''Abyssochrysos'' in the superfamily Loxonematacea Koken, with close affinities to the families Zygopleuridae Wenz, 1939, Paleozygopleuridae Horny, and Pseudozygopleuridae Knight, 1930.R.S. 1979. Classification and systematic relationships of the Abyssochrysidae, a relict family of bathyal snails (Prosobranchia; Gastropoda). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 290: 1–21
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Distribution

* The type specimen was dredged from a depth of 1645 m to 1828 m off the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

, South Africa. * PhilippinesBouchet P. (1991). "New records and new species of ''Abyssochrysos'' (Mollusca, Caenogastropoda). ''Journal of Natural History'' 25(2): 305–313. . * Indonesia

Description

File:Abyssochrysos melanioides shell.png,

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard ou ...

File:Abyssochrysos melanioides operculum.png, operculum File:Abyssochrysos melanioides 2.png, anatomy File:Abyssochrysos melanioides radula.png,

radula The radula (, ; plural radulae or radulas) is an anatomical structure used by molluscs 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 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abyssochrysos Melanioides melanioides Gastropods described in 1927