Rathouisiidae

Rathouisiidae
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Heterobranchia

clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Eupulmonata
clade Systellommatophora
Superfamily: Veronicelloidea
Family: Rathouisiidae
Heude, 1885[1]
Genera

See text.
Synonyms

Rathouisiadae (original spelling)

Rathouisiidae is a family of air-breathing land slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks.

Contents

Taxonomy

The Rathouisiidae family is classified in the clade Systellommatophora within the clade Eupulmonata (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005). This family has no subfamilies (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).

Genera

genera within the family Rathouisiidae include:

Distribution

Predatory carnivorous Atopos live on Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo, New Guinea, NE Australia and, recently, Singapore.

Feeding habits

Rathouisiidae are carnivorous and they are feeding on gastropods, but also on fungi and plants.[3]

Bornean Atopos specialising in Opisthostoma are known to tailor their approach to the size of the prey. With small snails it holds the shells aperture-upward with the front of its foot and eats its way down. With larger ones it scrapes away the shell to allow access through the spire. This behaviour is thought to drive the evolution of shell ornamentation in Opisthostoma.[4]

References

  1. ^ Heude P. M. (1885). Mémoires concernant l'histoire naturelle de l'empire chinois par des pères de la Compagnie de Jésus. Notes sur les Mollusques terrestres de la vallée du Fleuve Bleu. Mision Catholique, Chang-Hai. 3: 89-132, plates 22-32. page 99.
  2. ^ Simroth (1891). Z. wiss. Zool. 52: 593.
  3. ^ Barker G. M. (2001) Gastropods on Land: Phylogeny, Diversity and Adaptive Morphology. 1-146. In: Barker G. M. (ed.) (2001) The biology of terrestrial molluscs. CABI Publishing, Oxon, UK, cited pages: 69. ISBN 0-85199-318-4.
  4. ^ Tan S. K. & Chan S-Y. (2009). "New records of predatory slugs from Singapore with notes on their feeding behaviour". Nature in Singapore 2: 1-7. PDF.

External links