Truncatellidae,

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 con ...

the "looping snails", is a

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 small amphibious

snails A snail is a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gas ...

, with

gill A gill () is a respiration organ, respiratory organ that many aquatic ecosystem, aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow r ...

s and an operculum, semi-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 or

micromollusk A micromollusc is a shelled mollusc which is extremely small, even at full adult size. The word is usually, but not exclusively, applied to marine molluscs, although in addition, numerous species of land snails and freshwater molluscs also ...

Shell description

This family of snails have small

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

s which lose their apical

whorls A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). In nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral diagram ...

as they continue to grow, giving the shells a truncated and cylindrical appearance.

Subfamilies

The family Truncatellidae consists of two subfamilies (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005): * subfamily Truncatellinae Gray, 1840 * subfamily Geomelaniinae Kobelt & Möllendorff, 1897Kobelt & Möllendorff (1897). '' Nachrichtsblatt der Deutschen Malakozoologischen Gesellschaft'' 29(5-6): 74.

Genera

Genera within the family Truncatellidae include: Truncatellinae * '' Truncatella'' Risso, 1826"Mollusca"
. Diversidad Biológica Cubana, accessed 23 March 2011. - type genus of the family Truncatellidae Geomelaniinae * '' Geomelania'' L. Pfeiffer, 1845 - type genus of the subfamily Geomelaniinae subfamily ? * †''

Nystia ''Nystia'' is an extinct genus of fossil freshwater snails, aquatic gastropod molluscs in the family Truncatellidae.Kadolsky D. (1988). "Mollusken aus dem Oligozän von Sieblos a.d. Wasserkuppe/Rhön". ''Beitrage zur Naturkunde in Osthessen'', Fu ...

'' * ''

Taheitia ''Taheitia'' is a genus of very small land snails that have an Operculum (gastropod), operculum and live near saltwater, maritime terrestrial animal, terrestrial gastropod mollusks in the family Truncatellidae.

'' Adams, 1863

Habitat

Snails in this family are found in marine coastal environments, near or just above the high tide line on stones and pebbles, fine sediments and decomposing vegetation.

Life cycle

The sexes are separate. Fertilized eggs are laid as egg capsules, which are attached to

detritus In biology, detritus ( or ) is organic matter made up of the decomposition, decomposing remains of organisms and plants, and also of feces. Detritus usually hosts communities of microorganisms that colonize and decomposition, decompose (Reminera ...

References

External links

Truncatellidae
on Discovery Life {{Taxonbar, from=Q7847930