''Gigantopelta aegis'' 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 ...
of deep
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 ...
from
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 ...
s, 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
Peltospiridae
Peltospiridae is a small family of gastropods that used to belong to the clade Vetigastropoda (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005), but is now included in the clade NeomphalinaBouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2010). Pel ...
.
Taxonomy
It was described as a new species within new genus ''Gigantopelta'' in 2015 and it was classified within the family Peltospiridae.
Distribution
This species is known from its type locality only: Longqi
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 ...
field in
Southwest Indian Ridge
The Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) is a mid-ocean ridge located along the floors of the south-west Indian Ocean and south-east Atlantic Ocean. A divergent tectonic plate boundary separating the Somali Plate to the north from the Antarctic Plate t ...
, .
Description
The width of the shell is 4.84–44.83 mm.
Valeues of
''δ''13C were −26.42‰ ± 0.67.
References
Peltospiridae
Gastropods described in 2015
{{Peltospiridae-stub