''Neopilina galatheae'' is a species of
monoplacophora
Monoplacophora , meaning "bearing one plate", is a polyphyletic superclass of molluscs with a cap-like shell inhabiting deep sea environments . Extant representatives were not recognized as such until 1952; previously they were known only from ...
n, a superficially
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 ...
-like
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
* ...
mollusc
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 esti ...
. Its name means new ''
Pilina'' (after ''Pilina'', an extinct monoplacophoran species that lived about 400 million years ago). It lives in depths of 5000 meters and the shell is 3 centimeters in length in adults.
The species was discovered off the Pacific coast of
Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
in the 1950s, where 10 specimens were collected. Later, additional specimens have been collected off the coast of
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
and off
Cabo San Lucas
Cabo San Lucas (, "Saint Luke Cape"), or simply just Cabo, is a resort city at the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula, in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. As at the 2020 Census, the population of the city was 202,694 inhabitan ...
,
Baja California
Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...
, Mexico.
[Schwabe, Enrico (2008)]
A summary of reports of abyssal and hadal Monoplacophora and Polyplacophora (Mollusca)
In: Martínez Arbizu, P. & Brix, S. (Eds) (2008) Bringing Light into Deep-sea Biodiversity. ''Zootaxa'', 1866, 1–574. The species was the first living monoplacophoran to be discovered; previously the taxon had been considered extinct for 375 million years. Shortly after its description, the discovery of the species was described as "a zoological discovery of the first order".
References
Monoplacophora
Molluscs described in 1957
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