Ellobiidae
| Ellobiidae | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| A live but retracted individual of Laemodonta siamensis on a human hand. A partially torn epiphragm of dried mucus is visible in the aperture of the shell | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): |
clade Heterobranchia clade Euthyneura |
| Superfamily: |
Ellobioidea Pfeiffer, 1854 |
| Family: |
Ellobiidae Pfeiffer, 1854 |
| Diversity | |
| about 250 valid specific names | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Melampidae Stimpson, 1851 |
|
clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Eupulmonata
Melampidae Stimpson, 1851
Ellobiidae, common name the hollow-shelled snails, is a family of small air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the clade Eupulmonata. Ellobiidae is the only family in the superfamily Ellobioidea, according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).
In this family, the number of haploid chromosomes lies between 16 and 20 (according to the values in this table).
They have a distinctive mode of locomotion arising due to a split sole. The front part of the sole adheres to the substrate and then the rear part of the sole is drawn up to the front part.
Species are traditionally classified into five taxonomic groups, the Pythiidae, the Laemodontidae, the Melampodidae, the Ellobiidae and the Carychiidae. These taxa have been recognized either as families within Ellobioidea or as sub-families within the family Ellobiidae.
The family Ellobiidae consists of the following subfamilies (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005):
The high degree of homoplasy in morphological characters and frequent low variability has led to the description of approximately 800 species names available in the literature, of which 250 are likely to be valid.
A molecular study by Dayrat at al. (2011) for the Ellobioidea suggests a monophyletic origin of the entire group.
Genera within the family Ellobiidae include:
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