Peraclidae is a family of pelagic
sea snails or "sea butterflies",
marine gastropod 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 superfamily
Cymbulioidea.
This family has no subfamilies (according to the
taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).
This family was originally called Procymbuliidae Tesch, 1913 and then called Peraclididae by Wenz in 1938.
The name Peraclidae takes precedence.
''Peracle'' is the type genus of the family Peraclidae.
"Peraclis" Pelseener, 1888 is a unjustied modification (Giovine, F. 1988)
Description
The left-coiled
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 o ...
resembles the shell of most snails. The
columella
Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (; Arabic: , 4 – ) was a prominent writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire.
His ' in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture, together with the wo ...
is somewhat elongated into a curved rostrum. There is an
operculum and a
gill
A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...
.
Species
Species within the genus ''Peracle'' Forbes, 1844 include:
* † ''
Peracle charlotteae'' Janssen & Little, 2010
[Janssen A. W. & Little C. T. S. (2010). "Holoplanktonic gastropoda (Mollusca) from the Miocene of Cyprus: systematics and biostratigraphy". ''Palaeontology'' 53(5): 1111-1145. .]
* ''
Peracle depressa'' Meisenheimer, 1906 - Distribution: Cuba, Brazil, Argentina, Oceanic, Equatorial Atlantic.
* ''
Peracle diversa'' (
Monterosato, 1875) - synonyms: ''
Peracle apicifulva'' Meisenheimer, 1906,
* ''
Peracle bispinosa''
Pelseneer, 1888, Two-spine pteropod. Distribution: Florida, Bermuda, Cuba, Argentina, Mediterranean. Length: 4 mm.
* ''
Peracle moluccensis'' Tesch, 1903 - Distribution: Panama, Brazil, British Isles, Oceanic. Length: 3 mm.
* ''
Peracle philiporum'' (R. W. Gilmer, 1990) - Distribution: Bahamas. Length: 4.5 mm.
* ''
Peracle reticulata'' (
d'Orbigny
Alcide Charles Victor Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny (6 September 1802 – 30 June 1857) was a French naturalist who made major contributions in many areas, including zoology (including malacology), palaeontology, geology, archaeology and anthrop ...
, 1836) - Reticulate pteropod. Distribution: Oceanic, Florida, Texas; Mediterranean. Length: 6 mm. Description: the shell, which shows a hexagonal pattern, is rather heavy and compels this little animal to flap continuously to keep afloat
Table 4, figure 2* ''
Peracle triacantha'' (P. Fischer, 1882) - Distribution: Oceanic, Cuba, Bermuda, Venezuela, Mediterranean. Length: 5 mm
* ''
Peracle valdiviae'' Meisenheimer 1905 - Distribution: Oceanic, Argentina. Length: 5 mm.
References
Peracle bispinosa is not synonyms of Peracle diversa. It is quite a different species!
The reference for synonyms of Peracle diversa and Peracle apicifulva is : Giovine F. (1988). "The genus Peracle in the Mediterranean (Heterobranchia: Peraclidae)". La Conchiglia 20(226-227): 22-24, 5 figs.
Further reading
* Giovine F. (1988). "The genus ''Peracle'' in the Mediterranean (Heterobranchia: Peraclidae)". ''
La Conchiglia'' 20(226-227): 22-24, 5 figs.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7166860