Truncatellidae, common name the "looping snails", is a family of small amphibious snails, with gills and an operculum, semi-marine gastropod mollusks or micromollusks.

Truncatellidae
Two live individuals of Truncatella subcylindrica: a juvenile on the left, and an adult on the right
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Littorinimorpha
Superfamily: Truncatelloidea
Family: Truncatellidae
Gray, 1840[1]

Shell description

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Drawing of a shell of Truncatella bilabiata

This family of snails have small shells which lose their apical whorls as they continue to grow, giving the shells a truncated and cylindrical appearance.

Subfamilies

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The family Truncatellidae consists of two subfamilies (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005):[2]

  • subfamily Truncatellinae Gray, 1840
  • subfamily Geomelaniinae Kobelt & Möllendorff, 1897[3]

Genera

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Genera within the family Truncatellidae include:

Truncatellinae

Geomelaniinae

  • Geomelania L. Pfeiffer, 1845 - type genus of the subfamily Geomelaniinae[2]

subfamily ?

Habitat

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Snails in this family are found in marine coastal environments, near or just above the high tide line on stones and pebbles, fine sediments and decomposing vegetation.

Life cycle

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The sexes are separate. Fertilized eggs are laid as egg capsules, which are attached to detritus.

References

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  1. ^ Gray (1840). Synopsis of the contents of the British Museum ed. 42: 117, 148.
  2. ^ a b c Bouchet, Philippe; Rocroi, Jean-Pierre; Frýda, Jiri; Hausdorf, Bernard; Ponder, Winston; Valdés, Ángel & Warén, Anders (2005). "Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families". Malacologia. 47 (1–2). Hackenheim, Germany: ConchBooks: 1–397. ISBN 3-925919-72-4. ISSN 0076-2997.
  3. ^ Kobelt & Möllendorff (1897). Nachrichtsblatt der Deutschen Malakozoologischen Gesellschaft 29(5-6): 74.
  4. ^ a b "Mollusca" Archived 2012-06-26 at the Wayback Machine. Diversidad Biológica Cubana, accessed 23 March 2011.
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