Acteonidae,

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

the "barrel bubble snails", is a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

of small

sea snails Sea snails are slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the absence of a visibl ...

, marine

gastropod Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...

mollusk Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...

s of the informal group

Lower Heterobranchia Lower Heterobranchia, also known as the Allogastropoda, is a group of rather specialized, highly evolved sea slugs and sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusc, mollusks within the Subclass (biology), subclass Heterobranchia.WoRMS (20 ...

.Bouchet, P. (2012). Acteonidae. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=155 on 2012-08-04

Shell description

The shell is usually smaller than 25 mm."Family summary for Acteonidae"

AnimalBase AnimalBase is a project brought to life in 2004 and is maintained by the University of Göttingen, Germany. The goal of the AnimalBase project is to digitize early zoological literature, provide copyright-free open access to zoological works, and p ...

, last change 25-10-2007, accessed 3 August 2010 The shell of these sand-dwelling

micromollusk A micromollusc is a shelled mollusc which is extremely small, even at full adult size. The word is usually, but not exclusively, applied to marine molluscs, although in addition, numerous species of land snails and freshwater molluscs also ...

s is small, but it is large enough to house the retracted soft parts including the entire mantle. The aperture is elongated. The narrow shell

aperture In optics, the aperture of an optical system (including a system consisting of a single lens) is the hole or opening that primarily limits light propagated through the system. More specifically, the entrance pupil as the front side image o ...

, which is ovate and pointed on the top, can be closed with a

corneous Corneous is a biological and medical term meaning horny, in other words made out of a substance similar to that of horns and hooves in some mammals. The word is generally used to describe natural or pathological anatomical structures made o ...

operculum. The thick shell is oviform to

fusiform Fusiform (from Latin ''fusus'' ‘spindle’) means having a spindle (textiles), spindle-like shape that is wide in the middle and tapers at both ends. It is similar to the lemon (geometry), lemon-shape, but often implies a focal broadening of a ...

, with a short (sometimes sunken) conical

apex The apex is the highest point of something. The word may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional entities * Apex (comics) A-Bomb Abomination Absorbing Man Abraxas Abyss Abyss is the name of two characters appearing in Ameri ...

. They have spiral

sculpturing This is a glossary of terms used in the description of arthropod cuticle, including that of insects such as ants. For reasons still under investigation, these animals can have surface textures spanning and combining cracks, excavations, imbricatio ...

. The elongated aperture opens up from narrow at the posterior notch to enlarged at the base. The base of the

columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (, Arabic: ) was a prominent Roman writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture and ancient Roman cuisin ...

has several characteristic plaits.

Anatomy

The

radula The radula (; : radulae or radulas) is an anatomical structure used by mollusks for feeding, sometimes compared to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food enters ...

has no central tooth, and there are five or six laterals on each side. The teeth are very similar in shape and size across the radula, which is specialised for a diet of

polychaete worm Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are ma ...

s. The eggs are enclosed in a long, gelatinous mass, which is attached to the

substrate Substrate may refer to: Physical layers *Substrate (biology), the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the surface or medium on which an organism grows or is attached ** Substrate (aquatic environment), the earthy material that exi ...

with a short stalk. The foot is with operculum.

Ecology

Acteonidae occur in warm seas in shallow and deep water. Animals predate

polychaetes Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are m ...

Genera

Genera within the family Acteonidae include: Genus '' Acteon'' Montfort, 1810 - type genus † Genus '' Acteonina'' d'Orbigny, 1850 Genus '' Bathyacteon'' Valdés, 2008 Genus '' Callostracon'' Repetto & Bianco, 2012 † Genus '' Colostracon'' Hamlin, 1884 Genus '' Crenilabium'' Cossmann, 1889 Genus '' Inopinodon'' Bouchet, 1975 Genus '' Japonactaeon'' Taki, 1956 Genus '' Lanayrella'' Salvador & C. Cunha, 2020 Genus '' Liocarenus'' Harris & Burrows, 1891 * '' Liocarenus globulinus'' Forbes, 1844 ** Distribution : Atlantic, Mediterranean Genus '' Lissacteon'' Monterosato, 1890 Genus '' Maxacteon'' Rudman, 1971 Acteon fabreanus 002

Genus '' Mysouffa'' Marcus, 1974 * '' Mysouffa cumingii'' (= ''Acteon mysouffa cumingii'') (A. Adams, 1855) ** Distribution : Florida, Brazil ** Length : 20 mm * '' Mysouffa turrita'' (Watson, 1883) ** Distribution : Jamaica, Cuba, Caribbean ** Length : 14 mm ** Description : found at depths of around 700 m Genus '' Neactaeonina'' Thiele, 1912 Genus '' Obrussena'' Iredale, 1930 * '' Obrussena bracteata'' Iredale, 1930 ** Distribution : Australia * '' Obrussena moeshimaensis'' T. Habe, 1952 ** Distribution : Japan Genus '' Ongleya'' Finlay & Marwick, 1937 Genus '' Ovulacteon'' Dall, 1889 * '' Ovulacteon meekii'' Dall, 1889 ** Distribution : Cuba, Bahamas, East Brazil ** Length : 5.5 mm ** Description : found at depths of 360 to 820 m Genus '' Pseudactaeon'' Thiele, 1925. * '' Pseudactaeon albus'' Sowerby III, 1873 ** Distribution : South Africa * '' Pseudactaeon pusillus'' Forbes, 1844 ** Distribution : Florida, North Atlantic, Mediterranean ** Length : 11 mm * '' Pseudactaeon tenellus'' Loven, 1846 * ''Pseudactaeon luteofasciatus'' (Mühlfeldt, 1829): synonym of ''

Acteon tornatilis ''Acteon tornatilis'', common name the "lathe acteon", is a species of medium-sized sea snail, a predatory marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusc in the family (biology), family Acteonidae, the barrel bubble snails.Gofas, S. (2014). Acteon torn ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) Genus '' Punctacteon'' Kuroda & Habe, 1961 * '' Punctacteon amakusaensis'' T. Habe, 1949 ** Distribution : Indo-Pacific * '' Punctacteon cebuanus'' Lan, 1985 ** Distribution : Philippines * '' Punctacteon eloisae'' Abbott, 1973 Eloise’s acteon ** Distribution : Red Sea, Oman. ** Length : 25–38 mm ** Description: sublittoral on sandy bottoms; cream-colored shell with 5 convex whorls, each whorl with many spiral windings; each whorl is filled with red-brown separate patterns with dark brown to black borders; similar to '' Maxacteon flammea''. * '' Punctacteon fabreanus '' (H. Crosse, 1874) ** Distribution : Philippines ** Length : 17–30 mm ** Description : white shell with five whorls, each whorl filled with light brown bands covering the many spirals of each whorl. * '' Punctacteon kajiyamai'' T. Habe, 1976 ** Distribution : Indo-Pacific * '' Punctacteon kawamurai'' T. Habe, 1952 ** Distribution : Japan * '' Punctacteon kirai'' T. Habe, 1949 ** Distribution : Indo-Pacific off the Philippines ** Length : 20 mm ** Description : shell whitish to brownish; five whorls, first whorl being the largest; each whorl has many spiral windings; outer lip is notched. * '' Punctacteon variegatus'' (synonym: Acteon variegatus) Bruguière, 1789 Pink-spotted acteon ** Distribution : Philippines, West Australia. ** Length : 9–27 mm ** Description : sublittoral on sandy bottoms; convex, cream-colored shell with five whorls, each whorls is covered with transverse pink-colored to light brown patterns, without dark borders; whirls with prominent shoulder. Genus ''

Pupa A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages th ...

'' Röding, 1798: Genus '' Rapturella'' Salvador & C. Cunha, 2016 Genus '' Rictaxis'' Dall, 1871: Genus ''Tenuiacteon'' Aldrich, 1921 * '' Tenuiacteon ambiguus'' Hutton, 1885 Genus ''Tomlinula'' Strand, 1932 * '' Tomlinula turrita'' Watson, 1886 † Genus '' Volvaria'' Lamarck, 1801 ;Genera brought into synonymy: * ''Actaeon'' Ersch & Gruber, 1818: synonym of '' Acteon'' Montfort, 1810 * † ''Actaeonidea'' Gabb, 1872: synonym of ''Rictaxis'' Dall, 1871 * ''Buccinulus'' H. Adams & A. Adams, 1854: synonym of ''

'' Röding, 1798 * ''Callostracon'' sensu Nordsieck, 1972: synonym of † '' Colostracon'' Hamlin, 1884 * ''Crenilabrum'' Kobelt, 1892: synonym of '' Crenilabium'' Cossmann, 1889 * ''Dactylus'' Schumacher, 1817: synonym of ''

'' Röding, 1798 * ''Japonacteon'' ic synonym of '' Japonactaeon'' Taki, 1956 * ''Lissactaeon'' Monterosato, 1890: synonym of '' Crenilabium'' Cossmann, 1889 * ''Neoacteonina'' ic: synonym of '' Neactaeonina'' Thiele, 1912 * ''Obrussa'' Iredale, 1925: synonym of '' Obrussena'' Iredale, 1930 * ''Solidula'' Fischer von Waldheim, 1807: synonym of ''

'' Röding, 1798 * ''Strigopupa'' Habe, 1958: synonym of ''

'' Röding, 1798 * ''Tornatella'' Lamarck, 1816: synonym of '' Acteon'' Montfort, 1810

References

;Sources * Marcus, Eveline. "On some Acteonidae (Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia)." Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 25.19 (1972): 167-188. * Vaught, K.C. (1989). ''A classification of the living Mollusca.'' American Malacologists: Melbourne, FL (USA). . XII, 195 pp. ;Notes

External links

Acteonidae
fro
Sea slugs of Hawaii

Serge GOFAS, Ángel A. LUQUE, Joan Daniel OLIVER, José TEMPLADO & Alberto SERRA (2021) - The Mollusca of Galicia Bank (NE Atlantic Ocean); European Journal of Taxonomy 785: 1–114
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