Pneumodermopsis (Pneumodermopsis) macrocotyla Zhang, 1964
Overview
This is a relatively small, naked pelagic snail, up to 0.7 cm long, with a mainly transparent body, the reddish brown of the visceral mass is seen through the body wall. The skin is glandular. There is a median sucker arm with a large top sucker, but there are no lateral arms or lateral suckers. A posterior gill is absent. The posterior footlobe is long. It is a good swimmer that hunts shelled pteropods as food. It lives in the NW-Pacific Oceans (Pneumodermopsis macrocotyla).
Taxonomic Description
Body globular with inflated and transparent skin and scattered glandular spots. Posterior footlobe long and pointed, with a distinct median tubercle. Lateral gill present. Central acetabuliferous arm with one large top sucker and four small lateral suckers. No lateral arms or lateral suckers. Hooks somewhat slender, about 40 in number. Jaw present with tiny spines at its tip. The radula formula is 7-1-7 (Pneumodermopsis macrocotyla radula).
Body length 7.7 mm.
Juveniles
A special description is not available.
Reproduction
This species is a protandric hermaphrodite.
Ecology
This species is a carnivore.
Distribution
This species is so far only known China Sea and Yellow Sea.
Types
Pneumodermopsis macrocotyla Zhang, 1964: 178, fig. 43.
Holotype preserved in the Institute of Oceanology, Academia Sinica.
Type locality: 21°15'N 111°30'E, N South China Sea, 9 October 1959.