The Pneumodermatidae are a family of sea angels, or small floating predatory sea snails or sea slugs. They are pelagic marine heterobranch opisthobranch gastropod mollusks in the clade Gymnosomata.
These small pelagic snails lack shells (except in their early embryonic stage). They are carnivores, equipped with swimming parapoda (fleshy, wing-like outgrowths), strong jaws, and grasping tentacles, often with suckers resembling those of cephalopods.
Genera Genera within the family Pneumodermatidae include:
Genus: Pneumoderma de Roissy, 1805 Pneumoderma atlanticum Oken, 1815 Pneumoderma degraaffi van der Spoel & Pafort-van Iersel, 1982 – distribution: Sargasso Sea, length: 11.8 mm Pneumoderma mediterraneum van Beneden, 1838 – distribution: Florida, Brazil, Mediterranean, length: 20 mm Pneumoderma peronii Lamarck, 1819 – distribution: Red Sea Pneumoderma violaceum d'Orbigny, 1836 – distribution: Bermuda, oceanic, length: 25 mm, description: This pteropod grabs its prey with two powerful suckers, each with about 30 suctorial disks, then it bulges out its long proboscis. Pneumoderma violaceum pacificum Dall, 1871 Pneumoderma violaceum violaceum d'Orbigny, 1836
Genus: Pneumodermopsis Keferstein, 1862 Pneumodermopsis canephora Pruvot-Fol, 1924 Pneumodermopsis ciliata (Gegenbaur, 1855) – distribution: circumglobal, oceanic, description: possesses five tentacles, each ending in a big suctorial disk Pneumodermopsis macrochira Meisenheimer, 1905 – distribution: oceanic Pneumodermopsis michaelsarsi Bonnevie, 1913 – distribution: Bermuda, oceanic Pneumodermopsis oligocotyla Massy, 1917 Pneumodermopsis paucidens (Boas, 1886) – distribution: Brazil, oceanic, length: 5 mm Pneumodermopsis pupula Pruvot-Fol, 1926 Pneumodermopsis spoeli Newman & greenwood, 1988 – Distribution: Australia. Pneumodermopsis teschi van der Spoel, 1973 – distribution: oceanic
Genus Schizobrachium Meisenheimer, 1903 Schizobrachium polycotylum Meisenheimer, 1903 – distribution: oceanic
Genus Spongiobranchaea d'Orbigny, 1836 Spongiobranchaea australis d'Orbigny, 1836 – distribution: Argentina, Australia, sub-Antarctic, Antarctica, oceanic, length: 22 mm Spongiobranchaea intermedia Pruvot-Fol, 1926 – distribution: oceanic image
Genus Abranchaea Zhan Fu-Sui, 1975 Abranchaea chinensis Zhan Fu-Sui, 1975
Genus Platybrachium Minichev, 1976
References