Lepetodrilidae 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 small, deep-sea

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 ...

hydrothermal vent A hydrothermal vent is a fissure on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hotspot ...

limpet Limpets are a group of aquatic snails that exhibit a conical shell shape (patelliform) and a strong, muscular foot. Limpets are members of the class Gastropoda, but are polyphyletic, meaning the various groups called "limpets" descended indep ...

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

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 in the clade

Vetigastropoda Vetigastropoda is a major Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic group of sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusc, mollusks that form a very ancient lineage (evolution), lineage. Taxonomically the Vetigastropoda are sometimes treated as an O ...

(according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2012). Lepetodrilidae. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=180906 on 2013-02-16 This family has no subfamilies.

Description

These deep-sea species are found and are endemic at hydrothermal vents. Their limpet-shaped shell consist of non-nacreous

aragonite Aragonite is a carbonate mineral, one of the three most common naturally occurring crystal forms of calcium carbonate, (the other forms being the minerals calcite and vaterite). It is formed by biological and physical processes, including prec ...

. The thick

periostracum The periostracum ( ) is a thin, organic coating (or "skin") that is the outermost layer of the shell of many shelled animals, including molluscs and brachiopods. Among molluscs, it is primarily seen in snails and clams, i.e. in gastropods and ...

covers the shell edge. The

apex The apex is the highest point of something. The word may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional entities * Apex (comics), a teenaged super villainess in the Marvel Universe * Ape-X, a super-intelligent ape in the Squadron Supreme universe *Apex ...

is posterior, in some species projecting posteriorly, and deflected to the right. The shell has no

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

or it consists of beads or imbricate radial ribs. There is no operculum. The muscle scar forms the shape of a horseshoe. The rhipidoglossate

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 ...

is special as the lateral teeth descend toward the rachidian in a v-arrangement. The conspicuous penis is situated near the base of the right cephalic tentacle.J. H. McLean, ''New Archaeogastropod Limpets from Hydrothermal Vents; Superfamily Lepetodrilacea I. Systematic Descriptions'', Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, Vol. 319, No. 1192 (May 4, 1988), pp. 1-32

Genera

Genera within the family Lepetodrilidae include: * '' Clypeosectus'' McLean, 1989 * '' Gorgoleptis'' McLean, 1988 * '' Lepetodrilus'' McLean, 1988 * '' Pseudorimula'' McLean, 1989

References

* McLean J. H. (1989). ''Contributions in Science, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County'' 407: 15

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q10785324