The Pneumodermatidae are 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 ...

sea angel Sea angels (clade Gymnosomata) are a large group of small free-swimming sea slugs, not to be confused with Cnidarians (Jellyfish and other similar creatures), classified into six different families. They are pelagic opisthobranchs in the clade G ...

s, or small floating

predatory Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

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 ...

s or

sea slug Sea slug is a common name for some marine invertebrates with varying levels of resemblance to terrestrial slugs. Most creatures known as sea slugs are gastropods, i.e. they are sea snails (marine gastropod mollusks) that over evolutionary t ...

s. They are

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or w ...

marine

heterobranch Heterobranchia, the ''heterobranchs'' (meaning "different-gilled snails"), is a taxonomic clade of snails and slugs, which includes marine, aquatic and terrestrial gastropod mollusks. Heterobranchia is one of the main clades of gastropods. Cur ...

opisthobranch

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 A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

Gymnosomata Sea angels (clade Gymnosomata) are a large group of small free-swimming sea slugs, not to be confused with Cnidarians (Jellyfish and other similar creatures), classified into six different families. They are pelagic opisthobranchs in the clade Gy ...

. These small pelagic snails lack

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 ...

s (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). They are

carnivore A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other sof ...

s, equipped with swimming parapoda (fleshy, wing-like outgrowths), strong jaws, and grasping tentacles, often with suckers resembling those of

cephalopod A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda (Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head ...

Genera

Genera within the family Pneumodermatidae include: Genus: ''

Pneumoderma The Pneumodermatidae are a family (biology), family of sea angels, or small floating predatory sea snails or sea slugs. They are pelagic marine (ocean), marine Heterobranchia, heterobranch opisthobranch gastropod mollusks in the clade Gymnosomata ...

'' de Roissy, 1805 * ''

Pneumoderma atlanticum The Pneumodermatidae are a family of sea angels, or small floating predatory sea snails or sea slugs. They are pelagic marine heterobranch opisthobranch gastropod mollusks in the clade Gymnosomata. These small pelagic snails lack shells (excep ...

'' Oken, 1815 * ''

Pneumoderma degraaffi The Pneumodermatidae are a family of sea angels, or small floating predatory sea snails or sea slugs. They are pelagic marine heterobranch opisthobranch gastropod mollusks in the clade Gymnosomata. These small pelagic snails lack shells (excep ...

'' van der Spoel & Pafort-van Iersel, 1982 – distribution: Sargasso Sea, length: 11.8 mm * ''

Pneumoderma mediterraneum The Pneumodermatidae are a family of sea angels, or small floating predatory sea snails or sea slugs. They are pelagic marine heterobranch opisthobranch gastropod mollusks in the clade Gymnosomata. These small pelagic snails lack shells (excep ...

'' van Beneden, 1838 – distribution:

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

, length: 20 mm * ''

Pneumoderma peronii The Pneumodermatidae are a family of sea angels, or small floating predatory sea snails or sea slugs. They are pelagic marine heterobranch opisthobranch gastropod mollusks in the clade Gymnosomata. These small pelagic snails lack shells (except ...

Lamarck Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biolo ...

, 1819 – distribution: Red Sea * ''

Pneumoderma violaceum The Pneumodermatidae are a family of sea angels, or small floating predatory sea snails or sea slugs. They are pelagic marine heterobranch opisthobranch gastropod mollusks in the clade Gymnosomata. These small pelagic snails lack shells (ex ...

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 – distribution: Bermuda, oceanic, length: 25 mm, description: This pteropod grabs its prey with two powerful suckers, each with about 30 suctorial disks, then it bulges out its long proboscis. *** '' Pneumoderma violaceum pacificum'' Dall, 1871 *** '' Pneumoderma violaceum violaceum''

, 1836 Genus: ''

Pneumodermopsis The Pneumodermatidae are a family of sea angels, or small floating predatory sea snails or sea slugs. They are pelagic marine heterobranch opisthobranch gastropod mollusks in the clade Gymnosomata. These small pelagic snails lack shells (except ...

'' Keferstein, 1862 * '' Pneumodermopsis canephora'' Pruvot-Fol, 1924 * '' Pneumodermopsis ciliata'' (Gegenbaur, 1855) – distribution: circumglobal, oceanic, description: possesses five tentacles, each ending in a big suctorial disk * '' Pneumodermopsis macrochira'' Meisenheimer, 1905 – distribution: oceanic * '' Pneumodermopsis michaelsarsi'' Bonnevie, 1913 – distribution: Bermuda, oceanic * '' Pneumodermopsis oligocotyla'' Massy, 1917 * ''

Pneumodermopsis paucidens The Pneumodermatidae are a family (biology), family of sea angels, or small floating predatory sea snails or sea slugs. They are pelagic marine (ocean), marine Heterobranchia, heterobranch opisthobranch gastropod mollusks in the clade Gymnosomata ...

'' (Boas, 1886) – distribution: Brazil, oceanic, length: 5 mm * '' Pneumodermopsis pupula'' Pruvot-Fol, 1926 * '' Pneumodermopsis spoeli'' Newman & greenwood, 1988 – Distribution: Australia. * '' Pneumodermopsis teschi'' van der Spoel, 1973 – distribution: oceanic Genus ''

Schizobrachium The Pneumodermatidae are a family of sea angels, or small floating predatory sea snails or sea slugs. They are pelagic marine heterobranch opisthobranch gastropod mollusks in the clade Gymnosomata. These small pelagic snails lack shells (except ...

'' Meisenheimer, 1903 * ''

Schizobrachium polycotylum The Pneumodermatidae are a family (biology), family of sea angels, or small floating predatory sea snails or sea slugs. They are pelagic marine (ocean), marine Heterobranchia, heterobranch opisthobranch gastropod mollusks in the clade Gymnosomata ...

'' Meisenheimer, 1903 – distribution: oceanic Genus ''

Spongiobranchaea The Pneumodermatidae are a family of sea angels, or small floating predatory sea snails or sea slugs. They are pelagic marine heterobranch opisthobranch gastropod mollusks in the clade Gymnosomata. These small pelagic snails lack shells (except ...

'' d'Orbigny, 1836 * ''

Spongiobranchaea australis The Pneumodermatidae are a family of sea angels, or small floating predatory sea snails or sea slugs. They are pelagic marine heterobranch opisthobranch gastropod mollusks in the clade Gymnosomata. These small pelagic snails lack shells (ex ...

, 1836 – distribution:

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, sub-

Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and other ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

, oceanic, length: 22 mm * '' Spongiobranchaea intermedia'' Pruvot-Fol, 1926 – distribution: oceani
image
Genus ''

Abranchaea The Pneumodermatidae are a family of sea angels, or small floating predatory sea snails or sea slugs. They are pelagic marine heterobranch opisthobranch gastropod mollusks in the clade Gymnosomata. These small pelagic snails lack shells (except ...

'' Zhan Fu-Sui, 1975 * '' Abranchaea chinensis'' Zhan Fu-Sui, 1975 Genus ''

Platybrachium The Pneumodermatidae are a family of sea angels, or small floating predatory sea snails or sea slugs. They are pelagic marine heterobranch opisthobranch gastropod mollusks in the clade Gymnosomata. These small pelagic snails lack shells (except ...

'' Minichev, 1976

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3138902 Gastropod families Taxa named by Pierre André Latreille