''Babella'' 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 ...
of very small
sea snail
Sea snails are slow-moving marine (ocean), marine gastropod Mollusca, molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the Taxonomic classification, taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguishe ...
s,
pyramidellid 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 or
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 in the family
Pyramidellidae
Pyramidellidae, common name the pyram family, or pyramid shells, is a voluminous taxonomic family of mostly small and minute ectoparasitic sea snails, marine heterobranch gastropod molluscs. The great majority of species of pyrams are micromol ...
within the tribe
Chrysallidini
Chrysallidinae is a taxonomic group of very small sea snails, marine gastropod mollusk in the family Pyramidellidae, the pyrams and their allies.
Taxonomy
Chrysallidinae has been one of eleven recognized subfamilies of the gastropod family Py ...
(sensu taxonomy by Bouchet & Roctroi, 2005).
[Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. (2018). Babella Dall & Bartsch, 1906. In: MolluscaBase (2018). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=588302 on 2018-01-08]
Description
The shell shows strong axial ribs between the
sutures and three spiral keels, two of which are at the periphery, which falls in the deep sulcus between them, and one a little anterior to the middle of the base.
Distribution
The genus seems to be limited to tropical and temperate regions of the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
.
Life habits
Little is known about the biology of the members of this genus. As is true of most members of the
Pyramidellidae
Pyramidellidae, common name the pyram family, or pyramid shells, is a voluminous taxonomic family of mostly small and minute ectoparasitic sea snails, marine heterobranch gastropod molluscs. The great majority of species of pyrams are micromol ...
''
sensu lato
''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...
'', they are
ectoparasite
Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted str ...
s.
Species
There are twelve known species within the genus ''Babella'', these include:
* ''
Babella affectuosa''
(Yokoyama, 1927)
* ''
Babella caelatior''
(Dall & Bartsch, 1906) - synonym: ''Babella caelata'' (A. Adams, 1864)
[Bouchet, P.; Rosenberg, G. (2013). ''Babella caelatior'' (Dall & Bartsch, 1906). In: MolluscaBase (2017). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=588304 on 2018-01-08]
* ''
Babella caledonica''
Peñas & Rolán, 2017
* ''
Babella ceciriana''
(Saurin, 1958)
* ''
Babella claudoni''
(Dautzenberg & H. Fischer, 1907)
* ''
Babella crassicostata''
(Saurin, 1958)
* ''
Babella cylindrica''
(Saurin, 1958)
* ''
Babella funiculata''
(Saurin, 1961)
* ''
Babella gloria''
(Nomura, S., 1938)
* ''
Babella glycisma''
(Melvill, 1899)
* ''
Babella hastula''
(Saurin, 1961)
* ''
Babella khmeriana''
(Saurin, 1962)
* ''
Babella mariellaeformis''
(Nomura, 1938)
* ''
Babella obliquissima''
(Saurin, 1959)
* ''
Babella pallida''
Peñas & Rolán, 2017
* ''
Babella planispiralis''
Peñas & Rolán, 2017
* ''
Babella prominens''
Peñas & Rolán, 2017
* ''
Babella ventricosa''
(Saurin, 1958)
* ''
Babella yabei yabei''
Nomura 1936
** ''Babella yabei perarellia''
Nomura 1938
;Species brought into synonymy:
* ''Babella bartschi''
(Dautzenberg & Fischer, 1906): synonym of
Egilina callista (Melvill, 1893)
* ''Babella caelata''
(A. Adams, 1863): synonym of ''Babella caelatior''
(Dall & Bartsch, 1906)
References
* Peñas A. & Rolán E. (2017). Deep water Pyramidelloidea from the central and South Pacific. The tribe Chrysallidini. ECIMAT (Estación de Ciencias Mariñas de Toralla) - Universidade de Vigo, 412 pp
External links
Dall W.H. & Bartsch P. (1906). Notes on Japanese, Indo-Pacific and American Pyramidellidae. United States National Museum, Proceedings. 30(1452): 321-369, pls 17-26Gastropods.com: Babella; retrieved: 26 December 2011
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4837704
Pyramidellidae
Taxa named by William Healey Dall
Taxa named by Paul Bartsch