Assimineidae is a

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 ...

of minute

snail A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastro ...

s, also known as palmleaf snails, with an operculum,

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 ...

s or

micromollusk A micromollusk is a shelled mollusk which is extremely small, even at full adult size. The word is usually, but not exclusively, applied to marine mollusks, although in addition, numerous species of land snails and freshwater mollusks also ...

s in the superfamily Rissoidae. Many of these very small snails live in intermediate habitats, being amphibious between saltwater and land; others live in freshwater.

Distribution

The distribution of the Assimineidae is worldwide."Family summary for Assimineidae"

AnimalBase AnimalBase is a project brought to life in 2004 and is maintained by the University of Göttingen, Germany. The goal of the AnimalBase project is to digitize early zoological literature, provide copyright-free open access to zoological works, and pr ...

, last change 15-08-2006, accessed 4 August 2010. The oldest fossils are known from the

Cenomanian The Cenomanian is, in the ICS' geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or the lowest stage of the Upper Cretaceous Series. An age is a unit of geochronology; it is a unit of time; the stage is a unit in the s ...

aged

Burmese amber Burmese amber, also known as Burmite or Kachin amber, is amber from the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar. The amber is dated to around 100 million years ago, during the latest Albian to earliest Cenomanian ages of the mid-Cretaceous period. The ...

Ecology

Various species in this family occur in

estuarine An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

habitats, in

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...

es and in freshwater. Some are terrestrial or

amphibious Amphibious means able to use either land or water. In particular it may refer to: Animals * Amphibian, a vertebrate animal of the class Amphibia (many of which live on land and breed in water) * Amphibious caterpillar * Amphibious fish, a fish ...

Description

The

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 ...

is small to medium large, more or less egg-conelike shaped. The apertural margin is simple. The operculum is in most cases horny. Species in this family are characterized by rudimentary cephalic

tentacles In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work main ...

, a trunklike

snout A snout is the protruding portion of an animal's face, consisting of its nose, mouth, and jaw. In many animals, the structure is called a muzzle, rostrum, or proboscis. The wet furless surface around the nostrils of the nose of many mammals is c ...

, a foot with a groove and rudimentary to absent ctenidium (a comb-like respiratory apparatus).

Taxonomy

The following three

subfamilies In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

were recognized in the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005): * Subfamily Assimineinae H. Adams & A. Adams, 1856 - synonym: Synceratidae Bartsch, 1920 * Subfamily Ekadantinae Thiele, 1929 - synonyms: Paludinellidae Kobelt, 1878 (n.a.); Cyclotropidae Iredale, 1941 * Subfamily Omphalotropidinae Thiele, 1927 - Realiinae L. Pfeiffer, 1853 (inv.); Adelomorphinae Kobelt, 1906 (inv.); Garrettiinae Kobelt, 1906; Pseudocyclotini Thiele, 1929; Thaanumellinae Clench, 1946; Tutuilanidae Hubendick, 1952

Genera

Genera in the family Assimineidae include:ZipCodeZoo
Genus † '' Laternoides'' W. Yu & Y.-H. Xi, 1977 subfamily Assimineinae * '' Angustassiminea'' Habe, 1943 * ''

Assiminea ''Assiminea'' is a genus of minute, salt-tolerant snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks, or micromollusks, in the family Assimineidae.Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2015). Assiminea Fleming, 1828. Accessed through: World Register of ...

'' Fleming, 1828 - type genus of Assimineidae, synonym: ''Assiminia'' * '' Austropilula'' Thiele, 1927 * ''

Aviassiminea ''Aviassiminea'' is a genus of minute operculate snails, marine gastropod mollusks or micromollusks in the family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity ...

'' Fukuda & Ponder, 2003 * '' Conassiminea'' Fukuda & Ponder, 2006 * '' Cryptassiminea'' Fukuda & Ponder, 2005 * '' Euassiminea'' Heude, 1882 * '' Macrassiminea'' Thiele, 1927 * '' Ovassiminea'' Thiele, 1927 * '' Pseudomphala'' Heude, 1882 * '' Sculptassiminea'' Thiele, 1927 subfamily Ekadantinae * ''

Acmella ''Acmella'' is a genus of plants in the family Asteraceae, described as a genus in 1807. It is native to the Americas and has been introduced to Asia, Africa, the Pacific islands, and Australia. One familiar species is ''Acmella oleracea'', wh ...

'' Blanford, 1869 * '' Cavernacmella'' Habe, 1942 * '' Cyclotropis'' Tapparone Canefri, 1883 * '' Ekadanta'' Rao, 1928 * '' Metassiminea'' Thiele, 1927 * '' Optediceros'' Leith, 1853 * '' Paludinella'' Pfeiffer, 1841 * '' Rugapedia'' Fukuda & Ponder, 2004 * '' Solenomphala'' Heude, 1882 * '' Taiwanassiminea'' Kuroda & Habe, 1950 subfamily Omphalotropidinae Thiele, 1927 (synonym: Garrettiinae Kobelt, 1906) * '' Allepithema'' Tomlin, 1931 * '' Anaglyphula'' B. Rensch, 1932 * '' Atropis'' Pease, 1871 * '' Austroassiminea'' Solem, Girardi, Slack-Smith & Kendrick, 1982 * '' Balambania'' Crosse, 1891 * '' Chalicopoma'' Möllendorff, 1894 * '' Conacmella'' Thiele, 1925 * '' Crossilla'' Thiele, 1927 * '' Cyclomorpha'' Pease, 1871 * '' Ditropisena'' Iredale, 1933 * '' Duritropis'' Iredale, 1944 * '' Electrina'' Baird, 1850 * '' Eussoia'' Preston, 1912 * '' Fijianella'' C. M. Cooke & Clench, 1943 * ''

Garrettia ''Garrettia'' is a genus of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, first described in 1937. It contains only one known species, ''Garrettia siamensis''. It is native to southern China (Yunnan Province), Java, Thailand Thailand ( ), ...

'' Paetel, 1873 * '' Kubaryia'' Clench, 1948 * '' Leucostele'' Thiele, 1927 * '' Limborelia'' Iredale, 1944 * '' Nesopoma'' Clench, 1958 * '' Omphalotropis'' Pfeiffer, 1851 - type genus of the subfamily Omphalotropidinae * '' Opinorelia'' Iredale, 1944 * '' Paludinellassiminea'' Habe, 1994 * '' Ponapella'' Clench, 1946 * '' Pseudassiminea'' Thiele, 1927 * '' Pseudocyclotus'' Thiele, 1894 * '' Pseudogibbula'' Dautzenberg, 1890 * ''

Quadrasiella ''Quadrasiella'' is a genus of minute, salt marsh snails with an Operculum (gastropod), operculum, Aquatic animal, aquatic gastropod mollusks, or micromollusks, in the family Assimineidae. Species Species within the genus ''Quadrisella'' includ ...

'' Moellendorff, 1894 * '' Rapanella'' Cooke & Clench, 1943 * '' Rupacilla'' Thiele, 1927 * '' Scalinella'' Pease, 1867 * '' Schuettiella'' Brandt, 1974 * '' Setaepoma'' Clench, 1955 * '' Spiratropis'' Kobelt & Möllendorff, 1900 * '' Suterilla'' Thiele, 1927 * '' Sychnotropis'' Möllendorff, 1898 * ''

Telmosena ''Telmosena'' is a genus of minute, salt-tolerant snails with an Operculum (gastropod), operculum, Aquatic animal, aquatic gastropod mollusks, or micromollusks, in the subfamily Omphalotropidinae of the family Assimineidae. MolluscaBase eds. (20 ...

'' Iredale, 1944 * ''

Thaanumella ''Thaanumella'' is a genus of minute salt marsh snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by m ...

'' Clench, 1946 * '' Turbacmella'' Thiele, 1927 * '' Tutuilana'' Hubendick, 1952 * '' Wrayanna'' Clench, 1948 ;incertae sedis: * Assimineidae incertae sedis vulgaris Webster, 1905 Rosenberg, G. (2012). Assimineidae incertae sedis vulgaris. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=598622 on 2012-05-31 * ''Assimineidae incertae sedis turrita'' (W. H. Turton, 1932) (taxon inquirendum) * ''Assimineidae incertae sedis turritella'' (W. H. Turton, 1932) (taxon inquirendum) ;Synonyms: * ''Adelomorpha'' Tapparone Canefri, 1886: synonym of ''Pseudocyclotus'' Thiele, 1894 (Invalid: Junior homonym of ''Adelomorpha'' Snellen, 1885 epidoptera * ''Adelostoma'' E. A. Smith, 1885: synonym of ''Pseudocyclotus'' Thiele, 1894 (invalid: junior homonym of ''Adelostoma'' Duponchel, 1827) * ''Assemania'' Dollfus, 1912: synonym of ''Assiminea'' J. Fleming, 1828 (unjustified emendation) * ''Assimania'': synonym of ''Assiminea'' J. Fleming, 1828 (incorrect spelling of genus name) * ''Assiminella'' Monterosato, 1906: synonym of ''Paludinella'' L. Pfeiffer, 1841 (unnecessary substitute name for Paludinella L. Pfeiffer, 1841) * ''Assiminia'' J. Fleming, 1828: synonym of ''Assiminea'' J. Fleming, 1828 (alternative original spelling sed in the index p. 557 * ''Diadema'' Pease, 1868: synonym of ''Garrettia'' Paetel, 1873 (invalid: junior homonym of ''Diadema'' Gray, 1825) * ''Dramelia'' Iredale, 1941: synonym of ''Acmella'' W. T. Blanford, 1869 (junior synonym) * ''Heteropoma'' Möllendorff, 1894: synonym of ''Allepithema'' Tomlin, 1931 (invalid: junior homonym of ''Heteropoma'' Benson, 1856; ''Allepithema'' is a replacement name) * ''Paludinassiminea'' Matsubayashi & Habe, 1990: synonym of ''Solenomphala'' Heude, 1882 (unavailable name: no type species designated) * Tribe ''Pseudocyclotini'' Thiele, 1929: synonym of ''Omphalotropidinae'' Thiele, 1927 * ''Scalinella'' Pease, 1868: synonym of ''Omphalotropis'' L. Pfeiffer, 1851 * ''Stenotropis'' Kobelt & Möllendorff, 1898: synonym of ''Omphalotropis (Stenotropis)'' Kobelt & Möllendorff, 1898 represented as ''Omphalotropis'' L. Pfeiffer, 1851 * ''Syncera'' Gray, 1821 (nomen nudum)

References

This article incorporates public domain text from the reference.

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3171053 pt:Assiminea