Latia: Difference between revisions
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'''''Latia''''' is a [[genera|genus]] of very small, air-breathing freshwater [[snail]]s or [[limpet]]s, [[Aquatic animal|aquatic]] [[pulmonate]] [[gastropod]] [[mollusc]]s in the [[family (biology)|family]] '''Latiidae'''. |
'''''Latia''''' is a [[genera|genus]] of very small, air-breathing freshwater [[snail]]s or [[limpet]]s, [[Aquatic animal|aquatic]] [[pulmonate]] [[gastropod]] [[mollusc]]s in the [[family (biology)|family]] '''Latiidae'''. Species in this genus are the only freshwater [[bioluminescent]] molluscs in the world. |
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This is the only genus in the family Latiidae, in other words Latiidae is a [[monotypic]] family. This genus has sometimes been placed instead in a larger family of freshwater limpets, the [[Ancylidae]]. |
This is the only genus in the family Latiidae, in other words Latiidae is a [[monotypic]] family. This genus has sometimes been placed instead in a larger family of freshwater limpets, the [[Ancylidae]]. |
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Revision as of 01:48, 11 December 2008
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| Family: | Latiidae Hutton, 1882
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| Genus: | Latia Gray, 1850
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See text. | |
Latia is a genus of very small, air-breathing freshwater snails or limpets, aquatic pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the family Latiidae. Species in this genus are the only freshwater bioluminescent molluscs in the world.
This is the only genus in the family Latiidae, 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 animals have a pallial lung, as do all pulmonate snails, but they also have a false gill or "pseudobranch". This serves as a gill as, in their non-tidal habitat, these limpets never reach the surface for air.
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
- Photo
- [1]
- NZ Govt
- A 1940 discussion of Latia's bioluminescence