Latia
Encyclopedia
Latia is a genus
of very small, air-breathing freshwater snail
s or limpet
s, aquatic
pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Chilinoidea
.
Latia is the only genus in the family
Latiidae.
Species in this genus are the only freshwater bioluminescent molluscs in the world.
, itself belonging to the clade
Hygrophila within the informal group Basommatophora
in the informal group Pulmonata
(according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005
).
There are no subfamilies in the family Latiidae (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005
).
Latia is the only genus in the family Latiidae, in other words Latiidae is a monotypic
family and Latia is the type genus
of the family Latiidae. This genus was previously placed instead in a larger family of freshwater limpets, the Ancylidae
.
of New Zealand.
is ancyliform, with the apex
marginal, and situated at the left posterior side, incurved, small.
Aperture
is very large, oval. The margin of the aperture is thin and sharp; posteriorly with a narrow, thin, concave lamina, its right edge bent down and free, forming a thin and sharp-edged vertical lamella.
Animal has eyes at the outer bases of the tentacles. The foot is elongated oval. The pulmonary cavity, its opening on the right side. Visceral commissure is long. There is no jaw. Central tooth of radula
is bicuspidate, laterals are unicuspidate and marginals are tricuspidate.
Genera
Genera is a commercial operating system and development environment for Lisp machines developed by Symbolics. It is essentially a fork of an earlier operating system originating on the MIT AI Lab's Lisp machines which Symbolics had used in common with LMI and Texas Instruments...
of very small, air-breathing freshwater snail
Freshwater snail
A freshwater snail is one kind of freshwater mollusc, the other kind being freshwater clams and mussels, i.e. freshwater bivalves. Specifically a freshwater snail is a gastropod that lives in a watery non-marine habitat. The majority of freshwater gastropods have a shell, with very few exceptions....
s or limpet
Limpet
Limpet is a common name for a number of different kinds of saltwater and freshwater snails ; it is applied to those snails that have a simple shell which is more or less conical in shape, and either is not spirally coiled, or appears not to be coiled in the adult snails.The name limpet is most...
s, aquatic
Aquatic animal
An aquatic animal is an animal, either vertebrate or invertebrate, which lives in water for most or all of its life. It may breathe air or extract its oxygen from that dissolved in water through specialised organs called gills, or directly through its skin. Natural environments and the animals that...
pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Chilinoidea
Chilinoidea
Chilinoidea is a superfamily of air-breathing freshwater snails, pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the clade Hygrophila....
.
Latia is the only genus in the 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...
Latiidae.
Species in this genus are the only freshwater bioluminescent molluscs in the world.
Taxonomy
The Latiidae family has been classified within the superfamily ChilinoideaChilinoidea
Chilinoidea is a superfamily of air-breathing freshwater snails, pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the clade Hygrophila....
, itself belonging to the clade
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
Hygrophila within the informal group Basommatophora
Basommatophora
Basommatophora was a term that was previously used as a taxonomic informal group, a group of snails within the informal group Pulmonata, the air-breathing slugs and snails...
in the informal group Pulmonata
Pulmonata
The Pulmonata, or "pulmonates", are an informal group of snails and slugs characterized by the ability to breathe air, by virtue of having a pallial lung instead of a gill, or gills...
(according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005
Taxonomy of the Gastropoda (Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005)
The taxonomy of the Gastropoda as it was revised by Philippe Bouchet and Jean-Pierre Rocroi is currently the most up-to-date overall system for classifying gastropod mollusks...
).
There are no subfamilies in the family Latiidae (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005
Taxonomy of the Gastropoda (Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005)
The taxonomy of the Gastropoda as it was revised by Philippe Bouchet and Jean-Pierre Rocroi is currently the most up-to-date overall system for classifying gastropod mollusks...
).
Latia is the only genus in the family Latiidae, in other words Latiidae is a monotypic
Monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...
family and Latia is the type genus
Type genus
In biological classification, a type genus is a representative genus, as with regard to a biological family. The term and concept is used much more often and much more formally in zoology than it is in botany, and the definition is dependent on the nomenclatural Code that applies:* In zoological...
of the family Latiidae. This genus was previously placed instead in a larger family of freshwater limpets, the Ancylidae
Ancylidae
Ancylini is a tribe of small, freshwater, air-breathing limpets, aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Planorbidae the ram's horn snails and their allies...
.
Distribution
This genus is endemic to the North IslandNorth Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
of New Zealand.
Shell description
ShellGastropod 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...
is ancyliform, with the apex
Apex (mollusc)
Apex is an anatomical term for the tip of the mollusc shell of a gastropod, scaphopod, or cephalopod mollusc.-Gastropods:The word "apex" is most often used to mean the tip of the spire of the shell of a gastropod...
marginal, and situated at the left posterior side, incurved, small.
Aperture
Aperture (mollusc)
The aperture is an opening in certain kinds of mollusc shells: it is the main opening of the shell, where part of the body of the animal emerges for locomotion, feeding, etc....
is very large, oval. The margin of the aperture is thin and sharp; posteriorly with a narrow, thin, concave lamina, its right edge bent down and free, forming a thin and sharp-edged vertical lamella.
Anatomy
This genus is remarkable by the absence of a jaw.Animal has eyes at the outer bases of the tentacles. The foot is elongated oval. The pulmonary cavity, its opening on the right side. Visceral commissure is long. There is no jaw. Central tooth of radula
Radula
The radula is an anatomical structure that is used by molluscs for feeding, sometimes compared rather inaccurately to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food enters the esophagus...
is bicuspidate, laterals are unicuspidate and marginals are tricuspidate.
Life habits
These freshwater limpets are capable of secreting a bioluminescent substance when disturbed.Species
Species in the genus Latia include:- Latia climoiLatia climoiLatia climoi is a species of small freshwater snail or limpet, an aquatic gastropod mollusc in the family Latiidae.Latia climoi is a type species of the genus Latia.- External links :* * *...
Starobogatov, 1986 - the type species - Latia lateralisLatia lateralisLatia lateralis is a species of small freshwater snail or limpet, an aquatic gastropod mollusc in the family Latiidae....
(Gould, 1852) - Latia neritoidesLatia neritoidesLatia neritoides is a species of small freshwater snail or limpet, an aquatic gastropod mollusc in the family Latiidae.The type specimen is in the British Museum.The specific epithet "neritoides" means "like a nerite"...
Gray, 1850