Notobranchaea hjorti (Bonnevie, 1913)

Overview

This is a medium sized naked pelagic snail, up to 0.9 cm long, with an opaque body the visceral organs are vaguely seen through the body wall. The anterior tentacles are small. It is a good swimmer that hunts zooplankton. It lives in the N-Atlantic Ocean (Notobranchaea hjorti).

Taxonomic Description

Skin transparent, unpigmented. Lateral gills absent. Posterior gill greatly reduced and only represented by a circular ring around the posterior body tip with four small distinct crests. The foot parts are composed of two lateral lobes and a short posterior lobe. The truncated wings have a narrow base. The Notobranchaea hjorti radula formula is 6-1-6, the lateral plates are provided with a relative small cusp on a large basal plate. The median teeth are typical for this genus being provided with a concave anterior border ornamented with numerous small denticles. The jaw is composed of a median row of 14 to 17 spines and 7 to 8 smaller, isolated spines. The hook sacs each have 13 to 14 strong hooks of a broad based triangular shape. A median foot tubercle is absent, but an accessory penial sucker is present. Van der Spoel found, however, a triangular fold, between the lateral footlobes, which resembles the structures found in other representatives of the family.
Body length up to 9 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 found in the N-Atlantic Ocean, see the Notobranchaea hjorti map.

Types

Fowlerina hjortii Bonnevie, 1913 (1933): 64 figs. 37-58, pl. 8, figs. 63-68.
Lectotype: ZMVB 30415 dissected specimen (alcohol collection). Paralectotypes: ZMVB 30414 1 spec., ZMVB 30413 1 specimen, ZMVB 17656 1 specimen (alcohol collection) and 3 slides with buccal organs.
Type locality: 45°26'N 9°20'W, 48°29'N 13°55'W Coll.,: CMSE stat 92, stat. 10.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Mollusca
Class Gastropoda
Subclass Euthyneura
Order Gymnosomata
Suborder Gymnosomata
Family Notobranchaeidae
Genus Notobranchaea
Species Notobranchaea hjorti

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Not included in WoRMS database

Scientific synonyms and common names

Notobranchaea hjorti (Bonnevie, 1913)

Synonyms

Fowlerina hjortii n. sp. Bonnevie, 1913 (1933): 64
Fowlerina hiorti err. typ. Pruvot-Fol, 1926: 32
Fowlerina hiurti err. typ. Pruvot-Fol, 1942: 29
Prionoglossa tetrabranchiata part Tesch, 1950a: 27
Prionoglossa hjortii Van der Spoel, 1970b: 119
Microdonta hjorti Van der Spoel, 1976c: 90
Notobranchaea hjorti Van der Spoel and Pafort-van Iersel, 1985: 30

Bonnevie, K., 1913 (reprinted 1933). Pteropoda from the Michael Sars North-Atlantic Deep-Sea expedition. Rep. Sci. Res. 'Michael Sars' North Atl. Deep-Sea exp. 3(1): 1-69, 4 tabs, 58 figs, 9 pls.

Pruvot-Fol, A., 1926. Mollusques ptéropodes gymnosomes provenant des campagnes du Prince Albert Ier de Monaco. Résult. Camp. Sci. accompl. sur son yacht par Albert Ier 70: 1-60, 3 pls.

Pruvot-Fol, A., 1942. Les gymnosomes.I . Dana Rep. 4 (20): 1-54, 77 figs.

Tesch, J. J., 1950a. The Gymnosomata. 2. Dana Rep. 6(36): 1-55, 37 figs.

Spoel, S. van der and Pafort-van Iersel, G. J. S., 1985. Note on the taxonomy of the family Notobranchaeidae and description of Notobranchaea bleekerae n. sp., a species new to science (Mollusca, Pteropoda). Basteria 49 (1-3): 29-361.

Spoel, S. van der, 1970b. The pelagic Mollusca from the 'Atlantide' and 'Galathea' expeditions collected in the East Atlantic. Atlantide Reports 11: 99-139, 24 figs.

Spoel, S. van der, 1971d. The pelagic Mollusca from the "Atlantide" and "Galathea" Expeditions collected in the East Atlantic. Atlantide Rep. 11: 99-139.

Spoel, S. van der, 1972a. A taxonomic outline of the Gymnosomata (Mollusca). Basteria 36 (2-5): 75-88.

Spoel, S. van der, 1976c. Pseudothecosomata, Gymnosomata and Heteropoda. Bohn, Scheltema & Holkema, Utrecht. 484 pp. 246 figs.

No distribution map was available at OBIS the last time we checked. Retry now.

You can continue searching for Notobranchaea hjorti on one of these Web sites:

Fauna Europaea (animals) | IOPI (plants) | NCBI (genetic)

Google | Yahoo | MSN | Wikipedia