Planaxidae, commonly called planaxids or clusterwinks, 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 small and minute

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, pantropical

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 * ...

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 ...

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 ...

s in the superfamily Cerithoidea. They live on rocky shores in the littoral zone of the tropics and subtropics.

Characteristics

Planaxids are known as clusterwinks because of their habit of clustering together in concealed, moist locations when the tide is out. They have conical shells resembling periwinkles, except for the wide, shallow anterior canals. They brood their

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 ...

s in a chamber behind their heads, releasing them into the sea as veliger larvae to form part of the plankton.

Subfamilies

The following two

subfamilies In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

are recognized in the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005): *Planaxinae Gray, 1850 *Fossarinae A. Adams, 1860 - previously in a family of its own, named Fossaridae

Genera

The family Planaxidae comprises the following genera:Houbrick R. S. (1987). "Anatomy, Reproductive Biology, and Phylogeny of the Planaxidae (Cerithiacea: Prosobranchia)". ''Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology'' 445. The following genera are recognised: Planaxinae * † '' Cabania'' Lozouet & Senut, 1985 * '' Fissilabia'' Macgillivray, 1836 * '' Halotapada'' Iredale, 1936 * ''

Hinea ''Hinea'' is a genus of small sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Planaxidae.Rosenberg, G. (2012). Hinea. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=598427 on 2012 ...

'' Gray, 1847 * '' Holcostoma'' H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853 * † '' Leioplanaxis'' Lozouet & Maestrati, 1994 * † '' Orthochilus'' Cossmann, 1889 * '' Planaxis'' Lamarck, 1822 * '' Simulathena'' Houbrick, 1992 * ''

Supplanaxis ''Supplanaxis'' is a genus of small sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the subfamily Planaxinae of the family Planaxidae. Species Species within the genus ''Supplanaxis'' include: * ''Supplanaxis acutus'' (Krauss, 1848) * † ''Supplanax ...

Thiele Thiele is a German-language surname. Geographical distribution As of 2014, 78.0% of all known bearers of the surname ''Thiele'' were residents of Germany, 10.9% of the United States, 2.3% of Australia, 2.0% of Brazil, 1.0% of Canada and 1.0% of Sou ...

, 1929 ;Synonyms: * '' Angiola'' Dall, 1926: synonym of ''

'' Gray, 1847 * ''Leucostoma'' Swainson, 1840: synonym of ''Fissilabia'' MacGillivray, 1836 (invalid: junior homonym of ''Leucostoma'' Meigen, 1803 iptera * ''Quoyia'' Gray, 1839: synonym of ''Fissilabia'' MacGillivray, 1836 Fossarinae * '' Anafossarus'' Iredale, 1936 * '' Chilkaia'' Preston, 1915 * ''

Fossarus ''Fossarus'' is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Planaxidae. Species Species within the genus ''Fossarus'' include: * '' Fossarus abjectus'' (C.B. Adams, 1852) * ''Fossarus ambiguus'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * '' Fossaru ...

Philippi Philippi (; grc-gre, Φίλιπποι, ''Philippoi'') was a major Greek city northwest of the nearby island, Thasos. Its original name was Crenides ( grc-gre, Κρηνῖδες, ''Krenides'' "Fountains") after its establishment by Thasian colon ...

, 1841 * '' Larinopsis'' J. H. Gatliff & C. J. Gabriel, 1916 * † '' Medoriopsis'' Cossmann, 1888 * † '' Vouastia'' Raspail, 1909 ;Synonyms: * ''Fossar'' Gray, 1847: synonym of ''

'' Philippi, 1841 (invalid: unjustified emendation of ''Fossarus'') * ''Maravignia'' Aradas & Maggiore, 1844: synonym of ''Fossarus'' Philippi, 1841

References

* Strong E.E., Colgan D.J., Healy J.M., Lydeard C., Ponder W.F. & Glaubrecht M. (2011) ''Phylogeny of the gastropod superfamily Cerithioidea using morphology and molecules''. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 162: 43–89. * Bouchet P., Rocroi J.P., Hausdorf B., Kaim A., Kano Y., Nützel A., Parkhaev P., Schrödl M. & Strong E.E. (2017). Revised classification, nomenclator and typification of gastropod and monoplacophoran families. Malacologia. 61(1-2): 1-526.

External links

Gray, M. E., Figures of molluscous animals, selected from various authors. Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, London. Vol. 4, iv + 219 pp. (August)

Houbrick R.S. 1987. ''Anatomy, Reproductive Biology, and Phylogeny of the Planaxidae (Cerithiacea: Prosobranchia)''. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 445: 1-57
* * Powell A. W. B., ''New Zealand Mollusca'', William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979
GBIF
{{Commons category, Planaxidae Gastropod families Taxa named by John Edward Gray Pantropical fauna