Pneumodermopsis (Pneumodermopsis) minuta (Pelseneer, 1887c)
Overview
This is a small, naked pelagic snail, up to 0.3 cm long, with a mainly transparent body, the reddish brown of the visceral mass is seen through the body wall. The skin has brown chromatophores. There is a median sucker arm with 3 normal and 2 reduced suckers, and two lateral arms each with 8 suckers. A posterior gill is absent. The posterior footlobe is long. It is a good swimmer that hunts zooplankton. It lives in the tropical Pacific Oceans (Pneumodermopsis minuta).
Taxonomic Description
Body with a few brown pigment spots. Posterior footlobe very long, lateral gill relatively long. The lateral sucker arms are reduced, the suckers are arranged in two groups, in total there are about 16 lateral suckers. The median arm has a proximal pair of very small suckers; the top sucker and the distal pair are of equal size as are the lateral suckers. All suckers are placed on small, thin stalks.
Maximum body length is 3 mm.
Juveniles
A special description is not available.
Reproduction
This species is a protandric hermaphrodite.
Ecology:
This species is a carnivore.
Distribution
This species was collected by the "Challenger" Expedition in the tropical Pacific, but was never recorded again, see the Pneumodermopsis minuta map.
Types
Dexiobranchaea minuta Pelseneer, 1887c: 16.
Holotype: BMNH 1889.11.7.2. (alcohol col.) u.s.
Type locality: 36°42'N 179°50'W CCHE stat. 247.