Punctidae,

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

the "dot snails" or "pinhead snails", is 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 ...

of minute air-breathing

land snail A land snail is any of the numerous species of snail that live on land, as opposed to the sea snails and freshwater snails. ''Land snail'' is the common name for terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells (those without shells are known as ...

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...

pulmonate Pulmonata or pulmonates, is an informal group (previously an order, and before that a subclass) of snails and slugs characterized by the ability to breathe air, by virtue of having a pallial lung instead of a gill, or gills. The group includ ...

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 or

micromollusk A micromollusk is a shelled mollusk which is extremely small, even at full adult size. The word is usually, but not exclusively, applied to marine mollusks, although in addition, numerous species of land snails and freshwater mollusks also ...

s in the informal group

Sigmurethra Sigmurethra is a taxonomic category of air-breathing land snails and slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. This is an informal group which includes most land snails and slugs. The two strong synapomorphies of Sigmurethra are a ...

(according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).

Genera

The family Punctidae has no subfamilies (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005). The family Punctidae includes the following genera: * ''

Allenella ''Allenella'' is a genus of three species of tiny pinhead or dot snails that are endemic to Australia's Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea. The genus was first described in 1944 by Tom Iredale Tom Iredale (24 March 1880 – 12 April 1972) ...

'' Iredale, 1944 * ''

Charopinesta ''Charopinesta'' is a genus of three species of tiny pinhead or dot snails that are endemic to Australia's Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea ( Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, s ...

'' Iredale, 1944 * ''

Dignamoconcha ''Dignamoconcha'' is a monotypic genus of pinhead or dot snails that is endemic to Australia's Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea ( Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated betw ...

'' Iredale, 1944 * ''

Goweriana ''Goweriana'' is a monotypic genus of pinhead or dot snails that is endemic to Australia's Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea. Species * '' Goweriana berniceae'' Shea & Griffiths, 2010 – Bernice's pinhead snail Description The shells of ...

'' Shea & Griffiths, 2010 * ''

Paralaoma ''Paralaoma'' is a genus of very small air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks or micromollusks in the subfamily Laominae of the family Punctidae, the dot snails. Species The genus ''Paralaoma'' includes the fol ...

'' Iredale, 1913 * ''

Pernastela ''Pernastela'' is a genus of three pinhead or dot snail species that are endemic to Australia's Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea. Species * ''Pernastela charon'' Iredale, 1944 – lowland forest pinhead snail * ''Pernastela gnoma'' Iredale, ...

'' Iredale, 1944 * '' Phrixgnathus'' Hutton, 1882 * '' Punctum'' Morse, 1864 * ''

Semilaoma ''Semilaoma'' is a genus of three pinhead or dot snail species that are endemic to Australia's Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea (Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated betw ...

'' Iredale, 1944 * and others

References

External links

{{Punctidae-stub