''Gigantopelta aegis'' is a
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of deep
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 ...
from
hydrothermal vent
Hydrothermal vents are fissures on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hot ...
s, a 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 ...
mollusc
Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...
in the family
Peltospiridae
Peltospiridae is a small family of gastropods that used to belong to the clade Vetigastropoda (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005), but is now included in the clade Neomphalina.Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2010). Pe ...
.
Taxonomy
It was described as a new species within new genus ''Gigantopelta'' in 2015 and it was classified within the family Peltospiridae.
Distribution
This species is known from its type locality only: Longqi
hydrothermal vent
Hydrothermal vents are fissures on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hot ...
field in
Southwest Indian Ridge
The Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) is a mid-ocean ridge located along the floors of the south-west Indian Ocean and south-east Atlantic Ocean. A divergent tectonic plate boundary separating the Somali plate to the north from the Antarctic plat ...
, .
Description
The width of the shell is 4.84–44.83 mm.
Valeues of
''δ''13C were −26.42‰ ± 0.67.
A distinguishing factor of the Gigantopelta aegis is their large size, hence the name, which translates to “gigantic shield” in Latin.
While other peltospirids reach shell diameter sizes of 15mm on average, the Gigantopelta aegis can grow up to 45.7 mm.
The shell is also thickly coated with a layer of sulphide. However, this is typical of other vent-dwelling gastropods. Another distinguishing factor for the Gigantopelta species is that sexual dimorphism is not exhibited, as seen in other peltopsirids.
References
Peltospiridae
Gastropods described in 2015
{{Peltospiridae-stub