- Janthinidae
Taxobox
name = Janthinidae
image_caption =
regnum =Animalia
phylum =Mollusca
classis =Gastropoda
subclassis =Orthogastropoda
superordo =Caenogastropoda
ordo =Sorbeoconcha
subordo =Hypsogastropoda
infraordo =Ptenoglossa
superfamilia =Epitonioidea
familia = Janthinidae
familia_authority = Lamarck, 1822
subdivision_ranks = Genera
subdivision = See text.
synonyms =Janthinidae, or the purple snails or violet snails, are a family of
pelagic seasnail s, marinegastropod mollusk s in the informal group Ptenoglossa of theclade Hypsogastropoda .Distribution
Species in this pelagic family are found drifting world-wide in warm seas.
Description
The purple snails are pelagic, drifting on the oceans' surface, where they feed upon jellyfishes, especially the by-the-wind sailor "
Velella ". Purple snails consruct a raft of clearchitin , imprisoning air bubbles, and this provides the buoyancy to keep the animal at the surface.Genera in the family Janthinidae
* "
Janthina " Röding, 1798
* "Recluzia " Petit de la Saussaye, 1853References
*
* Powell A. W. B., "New Zealand Mollusca", William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.