Euconulidae
Encyclopedia
Euconulidae is a taxonomic family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 of minute, air-breathing land snail
Land snail
A land snail is any of the many species of snail that live on land, as opposed to those that live in salt water and fresh water. Land snails are terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells, It is not always an easy matter to say which species are terrestrial, because some are more or less...

s, terrestrial
Terrestrial animal
Terrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land , as compared with aquatic animals, which live predominantly or entirely in the water , or amphibians, which rely on a combination of aquatic and terrestrial habitats...

 pulmonate gastropod mollusks or micromollusk
Micromollusk
A micromollusk is a descriptive term for 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 reach adult size at very small...

s. This land snail family is closely allied to the Zonitidae, the glass snails.

Distribution

Distribution of Euconulidae include Nearctic
Nearctic
The Nearctic is one of the eight terrestrial ecozones dividing the Earth's land surface.The Nearctic ecozone covers most of North America, including Greenland and the highlands of Mexico...

, western-Palearctic
Palearctic
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is one of the eight ecozones dividing the Earth's surface.Physically, the Palearctic is the largest ecozone...

, eastern-Palearctic, Neotropical, Ethiopian
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

, Malagasy
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

, south-eastern Asia, Australian, Polynesian and Hawaii.

Shell description

These minute snails have a shell
Gastropod shell
The gastropod shell is a shell which is part of the body of a gastropod or snail, one kind of mollusc. The gastropod shell is an external skeleton or exoskeleton, which serves not only for muscle attachment, but also for protection from predators and from mechanical damage...

 which is roundly conical and broad-based, like the shape of an old-fashioned European woven bee hive
Bee Hive
The term Bee Hive can refer to:*Bee hive, an alternate spelling of the word beehive*Bee Hive, Alabama, an unincorporated community*The Bee-Hive , a 19th century British newspaper*Bee Hive Records, a jazz record label...

 or skep. For this reason these snails are sometimes known as "hive snails".

The shells of most Euconulidae are only about 3 mm in size, amber-colored and translucent.

Anatomy

In this family, the number of haploid chromosome
Chromosome
A chromosome is an organized structure of DNA and protein found in cells. It is a single piece of coiled DNA containing many genes, regulatory elements and other nucleotide sequences. Chromosomes also contain DNA-bound proteins, which serve to package the DNA and control its functions.Chromosomes...

s lies between 26 and 30 (according to the values in this table).

Genera

Subfamilies and genera in the family Euconulidae include:

Euconulinae
  • Euconulus
    Euconulus
    Euconulus is a genus of very small air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Euconulidae, the hive snails.- Species :Species within the genus Euconulus include:* Euconulus alderi...

    Reinhardt, 1883


Microcystinae
  • Allenoconcha
  • Aukena Baker, 1940
  • Buffetia
    Buffetia
    Buffetia is a genus of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Helicarionidae....

  • Cookeana
  • Diastole
    Diastole (gastropod)
    Diastole is a genus of air-breathing land snails or semi-slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Helicarionidae.- Species :Species in the genus Diastole include: * Diastole glaucina Baker, 1938...

    Gude, 1913
  • Faunulena
  • Greenwoodoconcha
  • Hiona Cooke, 1940
  • Iredaleoconcha
    Iredaleoconcha
    Iredaleoconcha is a genus of air-breathing land snails or semislugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Helicarionidae.This genus was named in honor of the malacologist Tom Iredale.-References:*...

    Preston, 1913
  • Kaala
  • Kusaiea
    Kusaiea
    Kusaiea is a genus of small air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Euconulidae, the hive snails.-References:*...

    Baker, 1938
  • Lamprocystis
    Lamprocystis
    Lamprocystis is a genus of small air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Euconulidae, the hive snails.- Species :Species within the genus Lamprocystis include:* Lamprocystis denticulata...

  • Liardetia
    Liardetia
    Liardetia is a genus of small air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Euconulidae, the hive snails.- Species :Species within the genus Liardetia include:* Liardetia boninensis...

  • Mendana
  • Microcystis
    Microcystis
    Microcystis is the genus of freshwater cyanobacteria which includes the harmful algal bloom Microcystis aeruginosa.-Etymology:The generic moniker Microcystis derives from the Greek mikros + kystis...

  • Nancibella
    Nancibella
    Nancibella is a genus of air-breathing land snails or semislugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Helicarionidae.-References:*...

  • Periclocystis
  • Philonesia
    Philonesia
    Philonesia is a genus of air-breathing land snails or semislugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Helicarionidae.-Species:Species within the genus Philonesia include:* Philonesia filiceti* Philonesia pitcairnensis...

    Sykes, 1900
  • Piena
  • Pukaloa
  • Tengchiena
    Tengchiena
    Tengchiena is a genus of gastropod in the Euconulidae family.It contains the following species:* Tengchiena euroxestus...



subfamily ?
  • Plegma
    Plegma
    Plegma is a genus of minute, air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Euconulidae. It contains the following species:* Plegma caelatura...


Cladogram

The following cladogram
Cladogram
A cladogram is a diagram used in cladistics which shows ancestral relations between organisms, to represent the evolutionary tree of life. Although traditionally such cladograms were generated largely on the basis of morphological characters, DNA and RNA sequencing data and computational...

 shows the phylogenic relationships of this family with the other families within the limacoid clade
Limacoid clade
The limacoid clade is a taxonomic clade of air-breathing land snails, semislugs and slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the informal group Sigmurethra.- Distribution :...

:
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