Thliptodontidae

Taxobox
name = Thliptodontidae
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Mollusca
classis = Gastropoda
subclassis = Orthogastropoda
superordo = Heterobranchia
ordo = Opisthobranchia
subordo = Gymnosomata
superfamilia = Clionoidea
familia = Thliptodontidae
familia_authority = (Kwietniewski, 1910)
subdivision_ranks = Genera
subdivision =
*"Thliptodon"
*"Cephalobrachia"
*"Massya"

Thliptodontidae is a family of swimming sea slugs, pelagic marine gastropod mollusks in the suborder Gymnosomata, the sea angels.

(The two groups Gymnosomata, sea angels, and Thecosomata, sea butterflies, together were jointly known as pteropods, but this term is now outdated.)

In the new taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005), Thliptodontidae is treated as Thliptodontinae, a subfamily of the family Clionidae.

Description

These small planktonic pelagic snails lack a shell except in their early embryonic stage.

They are carnivores, equipped with swimming parapoda (fleshy winglike outgrowths), strong jaws and grasping tentacles, often with suckers resembling those of cephalopods.

A more comprehensive discussion can be found under the entry Sea angels.

Genera and species within the family Thliptodontidae

Genus: "Thliptodon" Boas, 1886
* "Thliptodon antarcticus" Meisenheimer, 1906
* "Thliptodon diaphanus" Meisenheimer 1903
** Distribution : Florida, New Zealand, Antarctica, Weddell Sea, Oceanic
** Length : 2.5 cm
** Description : rare; inhabitant of deeper water: a pair of wings extend of the middle of the body; slowest swimmer of all pteropods. Buccal apparatus with radula and large hook sacs.
* "Thliptodon gegenbauri" Boas, 1886
** Distribution : Mediterranean

Genus "Cephalobrachia" Bonnevie, 1914
* "Cephalobranchia bonnevii" Massy, 1917
* "Cephalobranchia macrochaeta" Bonnevie, 1914
** Distribution : Bermuda, Iceland, Ireland.

Genus "Massya"