''Megadenus'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...
of
sea snails,
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
* ...
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
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 ...
Eulimidae
Eulimidae is a family of very small parasitic sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Vanikoroidea.
Description
These small parasitic snails live on (or in some cases in) the bodies of echinoderms such as sea cucumber ...
.
[Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2014). Megadenus Rosén, 1910. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=137977 on 2014-12-21]
Species
Species within this genus include the following:
* ''
Megadenus cantharelloides
''Megadenus cantharelloides'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Eulimidae.Humphreys & Lützen, 1972. Sloan, N.A., A.M. Clark & J.D. Taylor (1979). The Echinoderms of Aldabra and their habitats. Bull. Br. Mus. ...
''
(Humphreys & Lützen, 1972)
* ''
Megadenus holothuricola
''Megadenus holothuricola'' is a species of sea snail, a marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusk in the family (biology), family Eulimidae.Rosen, 1910. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php ...
''
(Rosen, 1910)
* ''
Megadenus oneirophantae
''Megadenus oneirophantae'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Eulimidae.Bouchet & Lützen, 1980. Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European registe ...
''
(Bouchet & Lützen, 1980)
* ''
Megadenus voeltzkovi
''Megadenus voeltzkovi'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Eulimidae.Schepman & Nierstrasz, 1914. Warén A. (1984) A generic revision of the family Eulimidae (Gastropoda, Prosobranchia). Journal of Molluscan S ...
''
(Schepman & Nierstrasz, 1914)
''Megadenus atrae''
[Takano, T., Warén, A., & Kano, Y. (2017). Megadenus atrae n. sp., an endoparasitic eulimid gastropod (Mollusca) from the black sea cucumber Holothuria atra Jaeger (Aspidochirotida: Holothuriidae) in the Indo-West Pacific. Systematic Parasitology 94: 699-709.
]
This parasite was discovered to reside in the cloacal chamber of the black sea cucumber ''Holothuria atra''. ''M. atrae'' differs from the other species by having moderately long and thick developed collar of the proboscis that contains a constricted apical pseudopallium. Its pseudopallium can be distinguished by its cauldron-like structure. In addition to a rounded basal lip of the shell aperture. ''M. atrae'' is found in black sea cucumbers of which are in India, Japan, Australia and New Caledonia.
''M.atrae'' exhibit sexual dimorphism. Female species of ''M. atrae'' are slightly bigger than male species as they have a slightly larger shell. Males are able to switch sexes in the absence of a female. The parasite is suggested to have less tolerance to low water temperatures than its host species. Furthermore, this limits its ability to mate and confines it to specific water temperatures of which its host must be in alongside the opposite sex.
;Species brought into synonymy:
* ''Megadenus arrhynchus''
(Ivanov, 1937): synonym of ''
Paramegadenus arrhynchus
''Paramegadenus'' is a genus of parasitic sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Eulimidae.Bouchet, P. (2014). Paramegadenus Humphreys & Lützen, 1972. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies. ...
''
(Ivanov, 1937)
* ''Megadenus cysticola''
(Koehler & Vaney, 1925): synonym of ''
Sabinella cysticola
''Sabinella'' is a genus of very small ectoparasitic sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks or micromollusks in the Eulimidae family. This genus was first described by Monterosato in 1890.
Species
Species within the genera ''Sabinella'' inc ...
''
(Koehler & Vaney, 1925)
References
* Rosén N. 1910. ''Zur Kenntnis der parasitischen Schnecken.'' Kongliga Fysiografiska Sällskapets Handlingar, n. f., 21(4): 1-67
* Warén A. (1984) A generic revision of the family Eulimidae (Gastropoda, Prosobranchia). Journal of Molluscan Studies suppl. 13: 1-96.
page(s): 53.
External links
To World Register of Marine Species
Eulimidae
{{Eulimidae-stub