Pneumodermopsis (Pneumodermopsis) pupula Pruvot-Fol, 1926
Overview
This is an extremely small, naked pelagic snail, up to 0.3 cm long, with a mainly transparent body, the visceral mass is seen through the body wall. Only juveniles are known of this species. There is a median sucker arm with 5 suckers. There are two lateral arms each with 12 suckers. The posterior gill is absent. The posterior footlobe is long (Pneumodermopsis pupula). It is a carnivorous species that lives in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean.
Taxonomic Description
The animals examined by Pruvot-Fol (1926) were all juveniles. In this species gills are absent and the body is cylindrical. Around the median arm with its five suckers, 11 to 12 lateral sessile suckers are found. The posterior footlobe is long and the anterior tentacles are extremely long. The posterior ring of cilia is still present. The radula formula varies from 8-1-8 to 10-1-10. The slender hooks are seven times as long as the lateral teeth, 12 hooks are present in each hook sac.
The maximum body length is 2.0 mm.
Juveniles
A special description is not available; the description above is, however, based on a juvenile.
Reproduction
This species is a protandric hermaphrodite.
Ecology
This species is carnivorous.
Distribution
It is another species for which few records are known. It is restricted to the Atlanto- Mediterranean Centre, see the Pneumodermopsis pupula map.
Types
Pneumodermopsis pupula Pruvot-Fol, 1926: 14, pl. 1, figs. 32-33, pl. 3, figs. 81-82.
Holotype: some fragm. MOM (alcohol collection) u.s.
Type locality: 36°15'N 3°25'W. Coll.: CPAE, stat. 2705.