Littorinidae

Taxobox
name = Littorinidae


image_caption = The common periwinke
"Littorina littorina"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Mollusca
classis = Gastropoda
subclassis = Orthogastropoda
superordo = Caenogastropoda
ordo = Sorbeoconcha
subordo = Hypsogastropoda
infraordo = Littorinimorpha
superfamilia = Littorinoidea
familia = Littorinidae
familia_authority = Gray, 1840
subdivision_ranks = Genera
subdivision = See text.

Littorinidae is a taxonomic family of about 200 sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Littorinimorpha, commonly known as periwinkles and found world-wide.

These snails usually live high up in the tidal zone, often confined to the splash zone. A tight-fitting operculum conserves water within the shell when the tide is out, and they feed by browsing upon lichens and small algae, moistened by spray. Between high tides they lie dormant, with the operculum closed, and can endure the full heat of the sun. The radula is a long narrow ribbon, the free end coiled behind the head like a watch-spring.

Taxonomy

Clade Caenogastropoda
*Clade Hypsogastropoda
**Clade Littorinimorpha
***Superfamily Littorinoidea
****Family Littorinidae
****Subfamily Lacuninae Gray, 1857
****Subfamily Laevilitorininae Reid, 1989
****Subfamily Littorininae Children, 1834

Genera within the family Littorinidae

* "Algamorda" Dall, 1918
* "Aquilonaria" Dall, 1886
* "Cenchritis" von Martens, 1900
* "Echininus"
* "Haloconcha" Dall, 1886
* "Lacuna" Turton, 1827
* "Laevilitorina" Pfeiffer, 1886
* "Littoraria" Griffith and Pidgeon, 1834 (39 species)
* "Littorina" Ferussac, 1822 (18 species)
* "Macquariella" Finlay, 1927
* "Mainwaringia" (2 species)
* "Nodilittorina" von Martens, 1897 (polyphyletic and divided into "Echinolittorina" (59 species worldwide), "Austrolittorina" five species), "Afrolittorina" (new genus, four species), and the monotypic "Nodilittorina" s.s.) cite journal | author= S T Williams , D G Reid , D T J Littlewood | title=A molecular phylogeny of the Littorininae (Gastropoda: Littorinidae): unequal evolutionary rates, morphological parallelism, and biogeography of the Southern Ocean.| journal= Mol Phylogenet Evol.| year=2003| volume=1| url=http://lib.bioinfo.pl/pmid:12801472| pages=60–86 | doi=10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00038-1]
* "Peasiella" (11 species)
* "Risellopsis" Kesteven, 1902
* "Rissolitorina" Ponder, 1966
* "Tectarius" Valenciennes, 1833 (11 species)
* "Tectininus"

Footnotes

References

*
*
* Powell A. W. B., "New Zealand Mollusca", William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1