Littoraria Explained
Littoraria is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Littorinidae, the winkles or periwinkles.[1]
There are more than fifty species in this genus of which more than 20 species are believed to be synonyms of Littoraria scabra, a very variable species.[2]
Many of the species in this genus occur in the Indo-West Pacific region and in the Tropical Eastern Pacific, where they are found in large numbers on the trunks, trees and prop roots of tropical mangrove forests a few metres above high tide level. These snails feed on the thin film of algae, epiphytes, fungi, diatoms and leaf epidermis of these mangroves.[3] The species living on higher levels of the trees have thinner shells, and are more variable in shell colour.
Within this genus, Littoraria aberrans is the only ovoviviparous species with an intracapsular metamorphosis.
Species
Species in the genus Littoraria include:
- Littoraria aberrans Philippi, 1846
- Littoraria ahenea Reid, 1986
- Littoraria albicans Metcalfe, 1852
- Littoraria angulifera Lamarck, 1822 - mangrove periwinkle
- Littoraria angulifera hessei Boettger 1912
- Littoraria ardouiniana (Heude, 1885)
- Littoraria articulata Philippi, 1846
- Littoraria bengalensis Reid, 2001
- Littoraria carinifera Menke, 1830
- Littoraria cingulata Philippi, 1846
- Littoraria cingulifera Dunker, 1845
- Littoraria coccinea (Gmelin, 1791)
- Littoraria conica Philippi, 1846
- Littoraria delicatula Nevill, 1885
- Littoraria filosa (G.B. Sowerby I, 1832)
- Littoraria fasciata Sowerby, 1832
- † Littoraria flammea Philippi, 1847
- Littoraria flava King & Broderip, 1832
- Littoraria flavaosa King & Broderip, 1832
- Littoraria ianthostoma Stuckey & D.G. Reid, 2002
- Littoraria intermedia Philippi, 1846
- Littoraria irrorata Say, 1822 - marsh periwinkle
- Littoraria lutea Philippi, 1847
- Littoraria luteola Quoy & Gaimard, 1833
- † Littoraria massicardi Pacaud, 2019
- Littoraria mauritiana Lamarck, 1822
- Littoraria melanostoma Gray, 1839
- Littoraria miodelicatula Oyama, 1950
- Littoraria nebulosa Lamarck, 1822 - cloudy periwinkle
- Littoraria obesa Gmelin, 1791
- Littoraria pallescens Philippi, 1846
- Littoraria philippiana Reeve, 1857
- Littoraria pintado Wood, 1820
- Littoraria planaxis Philippi, 1846
- † Littoraria prevostina (Basterot, 1825)
- Littoraria punctata Philippi, 184
- Littoraria rosewateri Reid, 1999
- Littoraria scabra Philippi, 1847
- Littoraria sinensis Philippi, 1847
- Littoraria strigata Philippi, 1846
- † Littoraria subangulata (Deshayes, 1861)
- Littoraria subvittata Reid, 1986
- Littoraria sulculosa Philippi, 1846
- Littoraria tessellata Philippi, 1847
- Littoraria undulata Gray, 1839
- Littoraria varia Sowerby, 1832
- Littoraria variegata Souleyet, in Eydoux & Souleyet, 1852
- Littoraria vespacea Reid, 1986
- Littoraria zebra Donovan, 1825 - zebra periwinkle
- Species brought into synonymy:
- Littoraria dantaae Y.-F. Fang, Y.-J. Peng, G.-J. Zhang & J. He, 2012: synonym of Mainwaringia dantaae Y.-F. Fang, Y.-J. Peng, G.-J. Zhang & J. He, 2012
- Littoraria glabrata Philippi, 1846 : synonym of Littoraria coccinea glabrata (Philippi, 1846)
- Littoraria kraussi (Rosewater, 1970): synonym of Littoraria coccinea glabrata (Philippi, 1846)
- Littoraria pulchra Gray, 1833: synonym of Littoraria zebra (Donovan, 1825) (junior synonym)
Further reading
- REID David G.. New data on the taxonomy and distribution of the genus Littoraria Griffith and Pidgeon, 1834 (Gastropoda: Littorinidae) in Indo-West Pacific mangroveforests. The Nautilus. 2001. 115. 4. 115–139.
- REID, D G 1986. The Littorinid Molluscs of Mangrove Forests in the Indo-Pacific Region: the genus Littoraria. British Museum (Natural History), London. 228 pp.
- Reid D.G.. The genus Littoraria. Veliger. 1999. 42. 21–53.
- Reid D.G. & Mak, Y-M. Indirect evidence for ecophenotypic plasticity in radular dentition of Littoraria species (Gastropoda: Littorinidae). Journal of Molluscan Studies. 1999. 65. 355–370. 10.1093/mollus/65.3.355 . 3.
- Reid D.G.. The phylogeny of Littoraria (Gastropoda: Littorinidae): an example of the practice and application of cladistic analysis. Phuket Marine Biological Center Special Publication. 1999. 19. 283–322.
- Reid, D. G., P. Dyal, and S. T. Williams. "Global diversification of mangrove fauna: a molecular phylogeny of Littoraria (Gastropoda: Littorinidae)." Molecular phylogenetics and evolution 55.1 (2010): 185-201.
Notes and References
- Reid, David G. (2011). Littoraria Griffith & Pidgeon, 1834. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=206218 on 2011-04-15
- Reid, D.G. (1986). The littorinid molluscs of mangrove forests in the Indo-Pacific region. British Museum (Natural History), London
- J.T. Christensen. Diet in Littoraria. Hydrobiologia. 1998. 378. 235–236. 10.1023/A:1003226713667.
