Littorinidae

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Littorinidae
The common periwinkeLittorina littorina
The common periwinke
Littorina littorina
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Caenogastropoda
Family: Littorinidae
Gray, 1840
Genera

See text.

Littorinidae is a taxonomic family of about 200 sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Caenogastropoda, commonly known as periwinkles and found world-wide.

These snails usually live high up in the tidal zone, often confined to the splash zone. A tight-fitting operculum conserves water within the shell when the tide is out, and they feed by browsing upon lichens and small algae, moistened by spray. Between high tides they lie dormant, with the operculum closed, and can endure the full heat of the sun. The radula is a long narrow ribbon, the free end coiled behind the head like a watch-spring.

Contents

[edit] Taxonomy

Clade Caenogastropoda

  • Clade Hypsogastropoda
    • Clade Littorinimorpha
      • Superfamily Littorinoidea
        • Family Littorinidae
        • Subfamily Lacuninae Gray, 1857
        • Subfamily Laevilitorininae Reid, 1989
        • Subfamily Littorininae Children, 1834

[edit] Genera within the family Littorinidae

  • Algamorda Dall, 1918
  • Aquilonaria Dall, 1886
  • Cenchritis von Martens, 1900
  • Echininus
  • Haloconcha Dall, 1886
  • Lacuna Turton, 1827
  • Laevilitorina Pfeiffer, 1886
  • Littoraria Griffith and Pidgeon, 1834 (39 species)
  • Littorina Ferussac, 1822 (18 species)
  • Macquariella Finlay, 1927
  • Mainwaringia (2 species)
  • Nodilittorina von Martens, 1897 (polyphyletic and divided into Echinolittorina (59 species worldwide), Austrolittorina five species), Afrolittorina (new genus, four species), and the monotypic Nodilittorina s.s.) [1]
  • Peasiella (11 species)
  • Risellopsis Kesteven, 1902
  • Rissolitorina Ponder, 1966
  • Tectarius Valenciennes, 1833 (11 species)
  • Tectininus

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ S T Williams , D G Reid , D T J Littlewood (2003). "A molecular phylogeny of the Littorininae (Gastropoda: Littorinidae): unequal evolutionary rates, morphological parallelism, and biogeography of the Southern Ocean.". Mol Phylogenet Evol. 1: 60–86. doi:10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00038-1. 

[edit] References