The Laginiopsidae are a
taxonomic
Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification.
A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...
family of planktonic,
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
* ...
opisthobranch
Opisthobranchs () is now an informal name for a large and diverse group of specialized complex gastropods which used to be united in the subclass Opisthobranchia. That taxon is no longer considered to represent a monophyletic grouping.
Euopisth ...
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 ...
mollusks in the suborder
Gymnosomata, commonly called the '
sea angels'. These small
pelagic snails lack shells (except in their early
embryo
An embryo is an initial stage of development of a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male spe ...
nic stage).
Laginiopsidae is represented by a single species (''
Laginiopsis trilobata
The Laginiopsidae are a taxonomic family of planktonic, marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusks in the suborder Gymnosomata, commonly called the ' sea angels'. These small pelagic snails lack shells (except in their early embryonic stage).
...
''), itself known from only a single specimen. This was one of several species described by the French malacologist
Alice Pruvot-Fol. Like other Gymnosomata, the Laginiopsids are likely carnivorous, though nothing about the species' feeding habits and life history are recorded.
The body of the single species is rounded with large swimming parapoda (wings). The various tentacles, suckers, jaws, and radula typical of other Gymnosomata are all absent in this family (the lack of a
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 ...
being particularly distinctive). The head has a long proboscis tipped with the mouth and three fleshy lobes.
Genera and species
Genus and species within the family Laginiopsidae include:
* Genus ''
Laginiopsis''
Pruvot-Fol, 1922
** ''
Laginiopsis triloba
The Laginiopsidae are a taxonomic family of planktonic, marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusks in the suborder Gymnosomata, commonly called the ' sea angels'. These small pelagic snails lack shells (except in their early embryonic stage).
...
'' - distribution:
Azores, description:
proboscis ends in three fleshy lobes
References
Taxa named by Alice Pruvot-Fol
{{Heterobranchia-stub