''Aiteng'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

comprising three species of

sea slug 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 gastropods, i.e. they are sea snails (marine gastropod mollusks) that over evolutionary t ...

, ''A. ater'' and ''A. mysticus'' being found in intertidal zones while ''A. marefugitus'' is fully terrestrial. ''Aiteng'' is the only genus in the family Aitengidae. The generic name ''Aiteng'' is derived from the name of a black puppet Ai Theng, which is one of the

shadow play Shadow play, also known as shadow puppetry, is an ancient form of storytelling and entertainment which uses flat articulated cut-out figures (shadow puppets) which are held between a source of light and a translucent screen or scrim. The cut-ou ...

(

Nang yai ''Nang yai'' ( th, หนังใหญ่, ) is a form of shadow play found in Thailand. Puppets are made of painted Bubalus, buffalo Hide (skin), hide, while the story is narrated by songs, chants and music. ''wikt:หนัง, Nang'' means " ...

) puppets in southern

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Taxonomy

Swennen & Buatip (2009) tentatively classified Aitengidae within the

Sacoglossa Sacoglossa, commonly known as the sacoglossans or the "solar-powered sea slugs", are a superorder of small sea slugs and sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks that belong to the clade Heterobranchia. Sacoglossans live by ingesting the cellular ...

, but they noted that some characteristics of the

nervous system In biology, the nervous system is the highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its actions and sensory information by transmitting signals to and from different parts of its body. The nervous system detects environmental changes th ...

are similar to those of the

Cephalaspidea The order Cephalaspidea, also known as the headshield slugs and bubble snails, is a major taxon of sea slugs and bubble snails, marine gastropod mollusks within the larger clade Euopisthobranchia.Jörger K. M., Stöger I., Kano Y., Fukuda H., ...

and Acochlidioidea (mentioned as Acochlidea). Aitengidae clusters within the

Hedylopsacea Acochlidiacea, common name acochlidians, are a taxonomic clade of very unusual sea snails and sea and freshwater slugs, aquatic gastropod mollusks within the large clade Heterobranchia. Acochlidia is a variant spelling. Description These ar ...

as sister group to

Pseudunelidae ''Pseudunela'' is a genus of minute sea slugs, acochlidians, shell-less marine or temporary brackish or brackish gastropod mollusks in the clade Acochlidiacea. ''Pseudunela'' is the only genus in the family Pseudunelidae. ''Pseudunela'' is the t ...

and

Acochlidiidae Acochlidiidae are a taxonomic family of shell-less freshwater gastropods (one of them ''Palliohedyle weberi'' lives in brackish water),Schrödl M. & Neusser T. P. (2010). "Towards a phylogeny and evolution of Acochlidia (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Op ...

or basal within Hedylopsacea.

Philippe Bouchet Philippe Bouchet (born 1953) is a French biologist whose primary scientific fields of study are malacology (the study of molluscs) and taxonomy. He works at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris. He is also a Commissioner of the ...

(2010) classified Aitengidae within the superfamily

Hedylopsoidea Hedylopsoidea was defined as a taxonomic superfamily of sea slugs, mostly marine gastropod mollusks within the informal group Opisthobranchia according to the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005). Schrödl & Neusser (2010)Schrödl M. & Neusser ...

Species

Species in the genus ''Aiteng'' include: * '' Aiteng ater'' Swennen & Buatip, 2009 * '' Aiteng mysticus'' Neusser, Fukuda, Jörger, Kano & Schrödl, 2011 – This species was found in Hisamatsu,

Miyako Island is the largest and the most populous island among the Miyako Islands of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Miyako Island is administered as part of the City of Miyakojima, which includes not only Miyako Island, but also five other populated islands ...

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

, Japan. Morphologically it clearly belongs to the Aitengidae, but shows differences to ''Aiteng ater'' at genus or species level. Its affinity to ''Aiteng ater'' is confirmed by comparison of the mitochondrial

16S rRNA 16S rRNA may refer to: * 16S ribosomal RNA 16 S ribosomal RNA (or 16 S rRNA) is the RNA component of the 30S subunit of a prokaryotic ribosome ( SSU rRNA). It binds to the Shine-Dalgarno sequence and provides most of the SSU structure. The g ...

sequences. * '' Aiteng marefugitus'' Kano, Neusser, Fukumori, Jörger & Schrödl, 2015 - species of sea slug that, remarkably, became terrestrial during the Cenozoic.

Distribution

The distribution of ''Aiteng ater'' includes Thailand. The distribution of ''Aiteng mysticus'' includes Japan. The distribution of ''Aiteng marefugitus'' includes

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...

Ecology

''Aiteng ater'' lives "amphibiously" in

mangrove forest Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangroves cannot withstand fr ...

s in the

intertidal zone The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species o ...

, on the mud.

References

This article incorporates CC-BY-2.0 text from the reference.

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4699300 Aitengidae Gastropod genera