Thliptodon akatukai Tokioka, 1950

Description

A small, planktonic gymnosomatous pteropod. The body is rounded and fusiform, with a transparent integument sprinkled with small white spots. The anterior tentacles are short. The animal swims by flapping a pair of lateral parapodial wings.

Distribution

Type locality: offshore of the Seto Marine Biological Laboratory, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. Recorded from surface and mid-water plankton samples around Japan.

Remarks

WoRMS currently lists this species as taxon inquirendum, indicating that its taxonomic placement requires further investigation. The genus Thliptodon belongs to the family Clionidae within the gymnosomatous pteropods, whose members are believed to prey predominantly on shelled pteropods.

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References

• Thliptodon akatukai n. sp., Tokioka T. (1950). Droplets from the plankton net, 7. Record of Thliptodon found near Seto. Publications of the Seto Marine Biological Laboratory, 1(3): 155-156. https://doi.org/10.5134/174437
• ヒョウタンハダカカメガイ, 奥谷喬司. (2017). わが国近海に見られる浮遊性巻貝類 VIII 浮遊性ウミウシ類・アサガオガイ類. うみうし通信. 95.
• ヒョウタンハダカカメガイ Thliptodon akatukai (Tokioka, 1950), 奥谷喬司 (2017). わが国近海に見られる浮遊性巻貝類—VII 裸殻翼足類. うみうし通信 94: 8-9.