Scissurellidae, sometimes known by the
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 ...
little slit snails, are a
taxonomic family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
of 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 a ...
s,
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 est ...
s or
micromollusc
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 clade
Vetigastropoda
Vetigastropoda is a major taxonomic group of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks that form a very ancient lineage. Taxonomically the Vetigastropoda are sometimes treated as an order, although they are treated as an unranked clade in Bouchet ...
(according to the
taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).
[Bouchet, P. (2011). Scissurellidae. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1730 on 2011-05-08]
The shells of these snails vary in adult size from less than 6 mm to less than 1 mm.
Distribution
Scissurellids occur world-wide, from the
intertidal zone
The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species ...
down to the
abyssal depths, including around
hydrothermal vent
A hydrothermal vent is a fissure on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hotspo ...
s.
Taxonomy
There are about 169 living described species of Scissurellidae, but the diversity of scissurellids is still far from being completely assessed (approximately 60 collected species await description). The
monophyly
In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic ...
of the family is questionable.
In 2003, there were about twenty-five genera divided into five subfamilies (Scissurellinae,
Anatominae,
Sutilizoninae,
Temnocinclinae,
Larocheinae) . Three of these subfamilies were later updated to family level.
According to the
taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005), this family consisted of the two following subfamilies :
* Scissurellinae Gray, 1847 - synonym:
Depressizoninae Geiger, 2003; now accepted with family rank Scissurellidae.
* Larocheinae Finlay, 1927: now elevated to family rank as
Larocheidae.
However Geiger (2009)
[Geiger D. L.(8 May 2009) "A new species of ''Depressizona'' and the family rank of Depressizonidae". '']Zootaxa
''Zootaxa'' is a peer-reviewed scientific mega journal for animal taxonomists. It is published by Magnolia Press (Auckland, New Zealand). The journal was established by Zhi-Qiang Zhang in 2001 and new issues are published multiple times a wee ...
'' 2059: 57-59
abstractfull article
elevated Depressizoninae to the family rank as
Depressizonidae.
Genera
Genera in the family Scissurellidae include:
* ''
Coronadoa''
Bartsch, 1915
* ''
Incisura''
Hedley, 1904
* ''
Satondella''
Bandel, 1998
* ''
Scissurella''
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 anthr ...
, 1824
* ''
Sinezona''
Finlay
Finlay is a masculine given name, and also a surname. The given name is represented in Scottish Gaelic as Fionnlagh.
Given name Finlay
* Finlay Mickel, Scottish skier
*Finlay Currie (1878–1968), Scottish actor
* Finlay Calder, Scottish rugby pl ...
, 1927
* ''
Sukashitrochus''
Habe & Kosuge, 1964
* ''
Triassurella''
A. Nützel and D. L. Geiger. 2006 [A. Nützel and D. L. Geiger. 2006. A new scissurelloid genus and species (Mollusca, Gastropoda) from the Late Triassic Cassian Formation. Paläontologische Zeitschrift 80(3):277-283]
;Genera brought into synonymy:
* ''
Ariella''
Bandel, 1998: synonym of ''
Sinezona''
Finlay, 1926
* ''Daizona''
Bandel, 1998: synonym of ''Sinezona''
Finlay, 1926
* ''Maxwellella''
Bandel, 1998: synonym of ''Scissurella''
d'Orbigny, 1824
* † ''Praescissurella''
Lozouet, 1998: synonym of ''Scissurella''
d'Orbigny, 1824
* † ''Reussella''
Bandel, 1998: synonym of ''Scissurella''
d'Orbigny, 1824
* ''Schismope''
Jeffreys, 1856: synonym of ''Scissurella''
d'Orbigny, 1824
* ''Scissurona''
Iredale, 1824: synonym of ''
Incisura''
Hedley, 1904
* ''
Temnocinclis'' - in its own family
Sutilizonidae
Sutilizonidae is a taxonomic family of sea snails, deepwater hydrothermal vent snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Vetigastropoda (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).
Taxonomy
This family has no ...
* ''
Temnozaga'' - in its own family
Sutilizonidae
Sutilizonidae is a taxonomic family of sea snails, deepwater hydrothermal vent snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Vetigastropoda (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).
Taxonomy
This family has no ...
* ''Woodwardia''
Crosse & P. Fischer, 1861: synonym of ''Scissurella''
d'Orbigny, 1824
References
* Geiger D.L. (2003). ''Phylogenetic assessment of characters proposed for the generic classification of Recent Scissurellidae (Gastropoda: Vetigastropoda) with a description of one new genus and six new species frop Easter Island and Australia''. Molluscan Research 23:21-83
* Geiger D.L. (2012) ''Monograph of the little slit shells. Volume 1. Introduction, Scissurellidae. pp. 1-728. Volume 2. Anatomidae, Larocheidae, Depressizonidae, Sutilizonidae, Temnocinclidae''. pp. 729–1291. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Monographs Number 7.
Further reading
*
* Marshall B. A. (2002). "Some recent scissurellids from the New Zealand region and remarks on some scissurellid genus group names (Mollusca : Gastropoda : Vetigastropoda)". ''Molluscan Research'' 22(2): 165–181.
PDF
* Zelaya D. G. & Geiger D. L. (2007). "Species Of Scissurellidae and Anatomidae From Sub-Antarctic and Antarctic Waters (Gastropoda: Vetigastropoda)". ''
Malacologia
''Malacologia'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal in the field of malacology, the study of mollusks. The journal publishes articles in the fields of molluscan systematics, ecology, population ecology, genetics, molecular genetics, evolu ...
'' 49(2): 393–443.
External links
Natural History Museum Rotterdam page of images of this family
{{Use dmy dates, date=May 2017
Taxa named by John Edward Gray