Barleeiidae

Barleeiidae (often also spelled Barleeidae) is a family of minute sea snails, micromollusks in the clade Littorinimorpha.[1]

Barleeiidae
shell of Barleeia rubra
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Littorinimorpha
Superfamily: Rissooidea
Family: Barleeiidae
Gray, 1857
Genera

See text

Synonyms
  • Ansolidae Slavoshevskaya, 1975
  • Barleeidae [sic] (misspelling)a

These snails are very abundant and live in sublittoral and intertidal waters on rocky substrates.

The shells are conical to high-spired. Their inner shell layer is chitinous. They are further characterized by a foot with sometimes a posterior mucous gland. Their olfactory organ, the osphradium is enlarged. In some species there are oesophageal pouches present. Their penis is sometimes provided with prostatic tissue. Their oviduct glands show a simple histology.[2]

Few malacologists are currently working on micromollusks. Since they are so small (only a few millimeters in size), they are difficult to study and classify. Therefore, these small mollusks are less well known than the larger ones.

Genera

Genera in the family Baleeiidae include:

  • Ansola Slavoschevskaya, 1975
  • Barleeia Clark, 1853 - Barleysnails
  • Caelatura Conrad, 1853
  • Fictonoba Ponder, 1967
  • Ketosia Dos Santos & Absalao, 2006[3]
  • Lirobarleeia Ponder, 1983
  • Protobarleeia Ponder, 1983
  • Pseudodiala Ponder, 1967
  • Tropidorissoia Tomlin & Shackleford, 1915

References
  1. Gofas S. (1995). A remarkable species richness of the Barleeidae (Gastropoda: Rissoacea) in the Eastern Atlantic. The Nautilus 109(1): 14-37
  2. Ponder W. F. (1983). "Review of the genera of the Barleeidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Rissoacea)". Records of the Australian Museum 35: 231-281.
  3. WoRMS (2009). Ketosia. Accessed through the World Register of Marine Species at http://marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=391637 on 2010-09-16
  • Ponder W. F. (1983). Review of the genera of the Barleeidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Rissoacea). Records of the Australian Museum 35: 231-281
  • Vaught, K.C. (1989). A classification of the living Mollusca. American Malacologists: Melbourne, FL (USA). ISBN 0-915826-22-4. XII, 195 pp.
  • Gofas S. (1995). A remarkable species richness of the Barleeidae (Gastropoda: Rissoacea) in the Eastern Atlantic. The Nautilus 109(1): 14-37
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