Laginiopsis
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The Laginiopsidae are a
taxonomic 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme of classes (a taxonomy) and the allocation ...
family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
of planktonic, marine
opisthobranch Opisthobranchs () is a now 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. Euopistho ...
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 suborder
Gymnosomata Sea angels (clade Gymnosomata) are a large group of small free-swimming sea slugs, classified into six separate families. They are pelagic opisthobranchs in the clade Gymnosomata within the larger mollusc clade Heterobranchia. Sea angels were pre ...
, commonly called the ' sea angels'. These small
pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean and can be further divided into regions by depth. The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or water column between the sur ...
snails lack shells (except in their early
embryo An embryo ( ) is the initial stage of development for 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 sp ...
nic stage). Laginiopsidae is represented by a single species (''
Laginiopsis trilobata The Laginiopsidae are a taxonomic family of planktonic, marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusks in the suborder Gymnosomata, commonly called the ' sea angels'. These small pelagic snails lack shells (except in their early embryonic stage). Lag ...
''), itself known from only a single specimen. This was one of several species described by the French malacologist
Alice Pruvot-Fol Alice Pruvot-Fol (4 August 1873 – 28 March 1972) was a French Opisthobranchia, opisthobranch malacologist. She was the author of many new species, mostly described on the basis of preserved animals. She described a new species (''Nembrotha ...
. Like other Gymnosomata, the Laginiopsids are likely carnivorous, though nothing about the species' feeding habits and life history are recorded. The body of the single species is rounded with large swimming parapoda (wings). The various tentacles, suckers, jaws, and radula typical of other Gymnosomata are all absent in this family (the lack of 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 ...
being particularly distinctive). The head has a long proboscis tipped with the mouth and three fleshy lobes.


Genera and species

Genus and species within the family Laginiopsidae include: * Genus '' Laginiopsis'' Pruvot-Fol, 1922 ** ''
Laginiopsis triloba The Laginiopsidae are a taxonomic family of planktonic, marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusks in the suborder Gymnosomata, commonly called the ' sea angels'. These small pelagic snails lack shells (except in their early embryonic stage). Lag ...
'' - distribution:
Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...
, description:
proboscis A proboscis () is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In invertebrates, the term usually refers to tubular arthropod mouthparts, mouthparts used for feeding and sucking. In vertebrates, a pr ...
ends in three fleshy lobes


References

Taxa named by Alice Pruvot-Fol {{Heterobranchia-stub