Aporrhaidae is a family of sea snails commonly called the "pelican's foot snails." The taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005[3] categorizes Aporrhaidae as marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Littorinimorpha.
Aporrhaidae | |
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A shell of Aporrhais pespelecani, from Catalonia, Spain | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
Subclass: | Caenogastropoda |
Order: | Littorinimorpha |
Superfamily: | Stromboidea |
Family: | Aporrhaidae Gray, 1850[1] |
Genera | |
See text | |
Synonyms | |
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Aporrhaids are commercially important, especially in traditional fisheries.[4]
Aporrhaids have a large lip with finger-like extensions, and a small operculum. They do not have movable eyes. Instead, their eyes are fixed at the base of each tentacle.[5]
The mollusk has one narrow foot, which renders its motion interrupted as the foot must raise the shell a tiny bit in each single movement, simultaneously pushing it forward. The motion must be repeated again and again for the mollusk to travel.[6]
Aporrhaidae live on muddy and sandy bottoms, sometimes in very large populations.
Subfamilies in the family Aporrhaidae include:
There are only two Recent genera:[7][8]
Fossil genera within the family Aporrhaidae include: