''Ebala'' 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
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,
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 in the subfamily Ebalinae, family
Murchisonellidae
Murchisonellidae is a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic family (biology), family of sea snails, Marine (ocean), marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Murchisonelloidea.Bouchet, P. (2015). Murchisonellidae Casey, 1904. Accessed th ...
.
[Gofas, S. (2009). ''Ebala'' Gray, 1847. In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. World Marine Mollusca database. Accessed through the World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=137920 on 2010-09-16]
Members of the genus ''Ebala'' are small (<4 mm) gastropods, the shells of which have a
sinistral
Sinistral and dextral, in some scientific fields, are the two types of chirality ("handedness") or relative direction. The terms are derived from the Latin words for "left" (''sinister'') and "right" (''dexter''). Other disciplines use different ...
protoconch
A protoconch (meaning first or earliest or original shell) is an embryonic or larval shell which occurs in some classes of molluscs, e.g., the initial chamber of an ammonite or the larval shell of a gastropod. In older texts it is also called " ...
. The shell is transparent, sometimes with opaque spots. In contrast to most of the families in the parent superfamily
Pyramidelloidea
Pyramidelloidea is a superfamily of mostly very small sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks and micromollusks within the clade Panpulmonata.
This is a voluminous taxon: above the species level close to 400 named taxa are referred to this gastr ...
, they do possess a
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 ...
. They are found in tropical to temperate waters, often associated with sea grass beds (e.g. ''
Posidonia
''Posidonia'' is a genus of flowering plants. It contains nine species of marine plants ("seagrass"), found in the seas of the Mediterranean and around the south coast of Australia.
The APG system (1998) and APG II system (2003) accept this ge ...
'' and ''
Zostera
''Zostera'' is a small genus of widely distributed seagrasses, commonly called marine eelgrass, or simply seagrass or eelgrass. The genus ''Zostera'' contains 15 species.
Ecology
'' Zostera marina'' is found on sandy substrates or in estuarie ...
'').
Species
Species within the genus ''Ebala'' include:
* ''
Ebala communis''
Bandel, 2005
* ''
Ebala gradata''
(Monterosato, 1878)
* ''
Ebala micalii''
(Peñas & Rolán, 2001)
* ''
Ebala nitidissima''
( Montagu, 1803)
* ''
Ebala pagodula''
(Yokoyama, 1927)
* ''
Ebala pointeli''
(de Folin, 1868)
* ''
Ebala scintillans''
A. Adams, 1861
* ''
Ebala striatula''
(Jeffreys, 1856)
* ''
Ebala torquata''
(Saurin, 1962)
* ''
Ebala trigonostoma''
(de Folin, 1872)[Gofas, S. (2009). ''Ebala trigonostoma'' (de Folin, 1872). In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. World Marine Mollusca database. Accessed through the World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=139667 on 2010-09-16]
* ''
Ebala venusta''
(Melvill, 1904)
* ''
Ebala vestalis''
A. Adams, 1861
* ''
Ebala virginea''
A. Adams, 1860
References
Further reading
External links
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3200415
Murchisonellidae
Taxa named by John Edward Gray