Athoracophoridae
| Athoracophoridae | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Two individuals of Triboniophorus graeffei | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): |
clade Heterobranchia clade Euthyneura |
| Superfamily: |
Athoracophoroidea P. Fischer, 1883 (1860) |
| Family: |
Athoracophoridae P. Fischer, 1883 (1860) |
| Genera | |
|
See text |
|
clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Eupulmonata
clade Stylommatophora
clade Elasmognatha
See text
Athoracophoridae, common name the leaf-veined slugs, are a family of air-breathing land slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the infraorder Stylommatophora, the stalk-eyed snails and slugs. Many of the species have an attractive pattern on their dorsal surface which resembles the veins in a leaf, hence the common name.
Athoracophoridae is the only family in the superfamily Athoracophoroidea.
Leaf-veined slugs live on the various land masses and islands in the south-west Pacific area.
The scientific name Athoracophoridae is derived from prefix "a-", that means "without" and from a Greek word "θωραχοφὁρος" (thorachoforos), that means "breastplate". This is a reference to the fact that the mantle in these slugs is small and not well delineated; it does not have the obvious, saddle-shaped or breast-plate-shaped appearance that it does in most other land slug groups.
In the family Athoracophoridae (in subfamily Aneitinae and in subfamily Athoracophorinae), the number of haploid chromosomes lies between 36 and 45 (according to the values in this table). While they belong to the pulmonate snails, they lack a true lung. The vascularized mantle cavity is reduced, and a series of blind tubules radiate from it, being surrounded blood vessels. This allows for a more compact lung structure in these generally flat animals.
...
Wikipedia