Laevipilina Explained

Laevipilina is a genus of monoplacophoran molluscs. They are very small, mostly deepwater animals which have a superficially limpet-like shell.^[1] All species are at approximately 2–3 mm in length, have 5 pairs of gills (except for Laevipilina hyalina, which has 6 pairs), and have 4–5 intestinal coils.^[2]

Species

There are five species:

• Laevipilina antarctica Warén & Hain, 1992
• Laevipilina cachuchensis Urgorri, García-Álvarez & Luque, 2005
• Laevipilina hyalina (McLean, 1979)
• Laevipilina rolani Warén & Bouchet, 1990
• Laevipilina theresae Schrödl, 2006

Notes and References

1. Schwabe, Enrico (2008). A summary of reports of abyssal and hadal Monoplacophora and Polyplacophora (Mollusca). In: Martínez Arbizu, P. & Brix, S. (Eds) (2008) Bringing Light into Deep-sea Biodiversity. Zootaxa, 1866, 1–574.
2. V. Urgorri, O. García-Álvarez and Á. Luque. Laevipilina cachuchensis, a new neopilinid (Mollusca: Tryblidia) from off north Spain. Journal of Molluscan Studies. 2005. 71. 1. 10.1093/mollus/eyi008. 59–66. free.