''Aiteng'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

comprising three species of

sea slug Sea slug is a common name for some Marine biology, marine invertebrates with varying levels of resemblance to terrestrial Slug, slugs. Most creatures known as sea slugs are gastropods, i.e. they are Sea snail, sea snails (marine gastropod moll ...

, ''A. ater'' and ''A. mysticus'' being found in

intertidal zone The intertidal zone or foreshore is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide; in other words, it is the part of the littoral zone within the tidal range. This area can include several types of habitats with various ...

s while ''A. marefugitus'' is fully terrestrial. ''Aiteng'' is the only genus in the family Aitengidae. The generic name ''Aiteng'' is derived from the name of a black puppet Ai Theng, which is one of the

shadow play Shadow play, also known as shadow puppetry, is an ancient form of storytelling and entertainment which uses flat articulated cut-out figures (shadow puppets) which are held between a source of light and a translucent screen or scrim (material), ...

(

Nang yai ''Nang yai'' (, ) is a form of shadow play found in Thailand. Puppets are made of painted buffalo hide, while the story is narrated by songs, chants and music. '' Nang'' means "leather" ("leather puppet" in this case), and in common usage ref ...

) puppets in southern

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

Taxonomy

Swennen & Buatip (2009) tentatively classified Aitengidae within the

Sacoglossa Sacoglossa are a superorder of small sea slugs and sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks that belong to the clade Heterobranchia known as sacoglossans. There are 284 valid species recognized within this superorder. Sacoglossans live by ingestin ...

, but they noted that some characteristics of the

nervous system In biology, the nervous system is the complex system, highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its behavior, actions and sense, sensory information by transmitting action potential, signals to and from different parts of its body. Th ...

are similar to those of the

Cephalaspidea The order Cephalaspidea, also known as the headshield slugs and bubble snails, is a major taxon of sea slugs and bubble snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusks within the larger clade Euopisthobranchia. Bubble shells is another commo ...

and

Acochlidioidea Acochlidiidae are a taxonomic family of shell-less freshwater gastropods (one of them '' Palliohedyle weberi'' lives in brackish water),Schrödl M. & Neusser T. P. (2010). "Towards a phylogeny and evolution of Acochlidia (Mollusca: Gastropoda: O ...

(mentioned as

Acochlidea Acochlidiacea, common name acochlidians, are a taxonomic clade of very unusual sea snails and sea and freshwater slugs, aquatic gastropod mollusks within the large clade Heterobranchia. Acochlidia is a variant spelling. Description These ar ...

). Aitengidae clusters within the

Hedylopsacea Acochlidiacea, common name acochlidians, are a taxonomic clade of very unusual sea snails and sea and freshwater slugs, aquatic gastropod mollusks within the large clade Heterobranchia. Acochlidia is a variant spelling. Description These a ...

as sister group to

Pseudunelidae ''Pseudunela'' is a genus of minute sea slugs, acochlidians, shell-less marine or temporary brackish or brackish gastropod mollusks in the clade Acochlidiacea. ''Pseudunela'' is the only genus in the family Pseudunelidae. ''Pseudunela'' is the ...

and

Acochlidiidae Acochlidiidae are a taxonomic family of shell-less freshwater gastropods (one of them '' Palliohedyle weberi'' lives in brackish water),Schrödl M. & Neusser T. P. (2010). "Towards a phylogeny and evolution of Acochlidia (Mollusca: Gastropoda: ...

or basal within Hedylopsacea.

Philippe Bouchet Philippe Bouchet (born 1953) is a French biologist whose primary scientific fields of study are malacology (the study of molluscs) and taxonomy. He works at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris. He is also a Commissioner of the In ...

(2010) classified Aitengidae within the superfamily

Hedylopsoidea Hedylopsoidea was defined as a taxonomic superfamily of sea slugs, mostly marine gastropod mollusks within the informal group Opisthobranchia according to the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005). Schrödl & Neusser (2010)Schrödl M. & Neusser ...

Species

Species in the genus ''Aiteng'' include: * ''

Aiteng ater ''Aiteng ater'' is a species of sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Aitengidae. The specific name ''ater'' is from the Latin language and means black, in reference to the appearance of the slug on the mud. ''Aiteng ater'' was cho ...

'' Swennen & Buatip, 2009 * ''

Aiteng mysticus ''Aiteng mysticus'' is a species of sea slug in the family Aitengidae, found around Hisamatsu, Miyako-jima, Okinawa, Japan. Morphologically it clearly belongs to the Aitengidae, but it shows differences to ''Aiteng ater'' at genus or species lev ...

'' Neusser, Fukuda, Jörger, Kano & Schrödl, 2011 – This species was found in Hisamatsu,

Miyako Island is the largest and the most populous island among the Miyako Islands of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Miyako Island is administered as part of the City of Miyako Island, which includes not only Miyako Island, but also five other islands. Geogra ...

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

, Japan. Morphologically it clearly belongs to the Aitengidae, but shows differences to ''Aiteng ater'' at genus or species level. Its affinity to ''Aiteng ater'' is confirmed by comparison of the mitochondrial

16S rRNA 16S ribosomal RNA (or 16Svedberg, S rRNA) is the RNA component of the 30S subunit of a prokaryotic ribosome (SSU rRNA). It binds to the Shine-Dalgarno sequence and provides most of the SSU structure. The genes coding for it are referred to as ...

sequences. * ''

Aiteng marefugitus ''Aiteng marefugitus'' is a species of fully terrestrial sea slug found only on the Ulong Island of Palau. The species name is derived from Latin, meaning "fled from the sea". Description ''A. marefugitus'' is a very small slug, reaching onl ...

'' Kano, Neusser, Fukumori, Jörger & Schrödl, 2015 - species of sea slug that, remarkably, became terrestrial during the Cenozoic.

Distribution

The distribution of ''Aiteng ater'' includes Thailand. The distribution of ''Aiteng mysticus'' includes Japan. The distribution of ''Aiteng marefugitus'' includes

Palau Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. The Republic of Palau consists of approximately 340 islands and is the western part of the Caroline Islands ...

Ecology

''Aiteng ater'' lives "amphibiously" in

mangrove forest Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangrove trees cannot withsta ...

s in the

, on the mud.

References

This article incorporates CC-BY-2.0 text from the reference. {{Taxonbar, from=Q4699300 Aitengidae Gastropod genera