The Cliopsidae,

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 contra ...

sea angels, are a

taxonomic Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. A ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

of small, free-swimming

sea slug Sea slug is a common name for some marine invertebrates with varying levels of resemblance to terrestrial slugs. Most creatures known as sea slugs are gastropods, i.e. they are sea snails (marine gastropod mollusks) that over evolutionary ...

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or w ...

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

opisthobranch Opisthobranchs () is now an informal name for a large and diverse group of specialized complex gastropods which used to be united in the subclass Opisthobranchia. That taxon is no longer considered to represent a monophyletic grouping. Euopis ...

gastropod

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is es ...

s in the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

Opisthobranchia Opisthobranchs () is now an informal name for a large and diverse group of specialized complex gastropods which used to be united in the subclass Opisthobranchia. That taxon is no longer considered to represent a monophyletic grouping. Euopisth ...

. As is the case in all gymnosome pteropods, these

sea angel Sea angels ( clade Gymnosomata) are a large group of small free-swimming sea slugs, not to be confused with Cnidarians (Jellyfish and other similar creatures), classified into six different families. They are pelagic opisthobranchs in the clade G ...

s lack a shell except during an early

embryo An embryo is an initial stage of development of a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male sperm ...

nic stage. The small lateral wing-like flaps (parapoda) are used in a slow swimming mode. The foot is reduced to three small median lobes.

Genera and species

Genera and species within the family Cliopsidae include: Genus '' Cliopsis'' Troschel, 1854 * ''

Cliopsis krohnii ''Cliopsis'' Troschel, 1854 is a genus of sea angels belonging to the family Cliopsidae. It is monotypic, being represented by the single species ''Cliopsis krohnii''. Taxonomy The Marine Species Identification Portal recognizes three morphs : ...

'' Troschel, 1854 Troschel, Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Pteropoden, Archiv f. Naturgesch., Jáhrg. xx. p. 222, p1. x. figs. 2-4. Genus ''Pruvotella'' * ''

Pruvotella danae The Cliopsidae, common name sea angels, are a taxonomic family of small, free-swimming sea slugs, pelagic marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusks in the order Opisthobranchia. As is the case in all gymnosome pteropods, these sea angels la ...

'' Pruvot-Fol, 1942 ** Distribution :

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, Oceanic ** Length : 10 mm

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5134334