Neopilina galatheae
| Neopilina galatheae | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Holotype of Neopilina galatheae |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Neopilina galatheae | ||||||||||||
| Lemche , 1957 |
Neopilina galatheae is one of three species of the genus Neopilina belonging to the Einschalern (Monoplacophora) within the molluscs include (Mollusca). Outwardly they are limpets-like marine animals with a shell length of approx. 3 cm.
History of discovery and naming
Neopilina galatheae was first found in 1952 on the occasion of a Danish expedition at a depth of 3750 m off the west coast of Costa Rica as part of a trawling . In 1957 the species was scientifically described by Henning Lemche and named as Neopilina ("new pilina ") after the fossil pilina known from the Cambrian because of its anatomically peculiar structure . He chose the species name after the Danish research vessel Galathea , from which it was found. The genus Neopilina was at times considered a " living fossil " with the anatomical structure of a "primeval mollusc". However, it combines both original and derived characteristics of the molluscs.
Anatomy and morphology
Like all shell molluscs , the shell of Neopilina has a three-layer structure. The remains of the embryonic thread were found on one specimen, which, however, was wound forward, as in Nautilus , a representative of the cephalopods .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ole Secher Tendal: Xenophyophores (Protozoa, Sarcodina) in the diet of Neopilina galatheae (Molluscs, Monoplacophora) . Galathea 2 Report, 16, pp. 95-98, Copenhagen 1985, p. 96