Latia

Latia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Orthogastropoda
Superorder:	Heterobranchia
Order:	Pulmonata
Suborder:	Basommatophora
Family:	Latiidae Hutton, 1882
Genus:	Latia Gray, 1850
Species
See text.

Latia is a genus of very small, air-breathing freshwater snails or limpets, an aquatic pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the family Latiidae.

This is the only genus in the familyLatiidae, in other words Latiidae is a monotypic family. This genus has sometimes been placed instead in a larger family of freshwater limpets, the Ancylidae.

(Note: Gastropod taxonomy has been in flux for more than half a century, and this is especially true currently, because of new research in molecular phylogeny. Because of all the on-going changes, different reliable sources can yield very different classifications. This is especially true within groups which are poorly understood in general.)

Distribution

This genus is endemic to the North Island of New Zealand.

Habitat

Members of the genus are found attached to stones in clean running streams and rivers.

Shell description

The shell of this limpet varies from 6 mm to 12 mm in maximum dimension. The apex of the shell is strongly hooked. The shell color is dark. The shell has a small internal "deck" across one end like a Crepidula species.

Life habits

These freshwater limpets are capable of secreting a bioluminescent substance when disturbed.

Species

• Latia climoi Starobogatov,1986
• Latia lateralis (Gould,1852)
• Latia neritoides Gray, 1850

References

• Powell A W B, New Zealand Mollusca, William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1
• [1]
• [2]
• [3]
• NZ Govt