Family
Aplustrid bubble snails
Aplustridae
- Species in the gallery
- 1
- Genera
- 1
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Description
Aplustridae is a family of bubble snails in the superfamily Acteonoidea, an early-branching group of heterobranch sea slugs that keep a well-developed external shell. WoRMS lists genera including Hydatina, Micromelo, Bullina and Aplustrum. Members live mainly in tropical and warm-temperate seas worldwide, often on sandy or muddy bottoms, and Hydatina physis has been recorded in the Mediterranean. They hunt polychaete worms.
Identification
Look for a thin, globose external shell boldly patterned with spiral lines or bands, carried on top of a large, soft, often translucent and frilly-edged body that is too big to withdraw fully into the shell. The head bears a broad cephalic disc with lobes rather than nudibranch-style rhinophores. The colourful external shell and expansive mantle lobes set them apart from Haminoeidae and other bubble snails with plainer shells.
Genera
1 species
Sources (3)
Share link: https://seaslugs.org.il/family/Aplustridae/