Pteropoda

Pteropods (PTEROPODA= foot shaped like wings) receive this name because they have body expansions working as swimming fins. They form an order of pelagic opisthobranchs including the following suborders: Thecosomates (EUTHECOSOMATA), Pseudothecosomates (PSEUDOTHECOSOMATA) and Gymnosomates (GYMNOSOMATA).

Pteropods – Swimming Mollusks from Parafilms on Vimeo.

Classification

Actual classification of Pteropods, according to last work by Bouchet et al. (2017) is:

Order Pteropoda
- Suborder Euthecosomata
  - Superfamily Cavolinioidea Gray, 1850 (1815)
    - Family Cavoliniidae Gray, 1850 (1815)
      - Genus Cavolinia Abildgaard, 1791
      - Genus Diacavolinia van der Spoel, 1987
      - Genus Diacria J.E. Gray, 1840
      - Genus Diacrolinia A. W. Janssen, 1995 †
      - Genus Gamopleura Bellardi, 1873 †
      - Genus Praehyalocylis Korobkov, 1962 †
      - Genus Vaginella Daudin, 1800
    - Family Cliidae Jeffreys, 1869
      - Genus Clio Linnaeus, 1767
      - Genus Praehyalocyclis Korobkov & Makarova, 1962
    - Family Creseidae Rampal, 1973
      - Genus Bovicornu O. Meyer, 1886 †
      - Genus Camptoceratops Wenz, 1923 †
      - Genus Creseis Rang, 1828
      - Genus Euchilotheca P. Fischer, 1882 †
      - Genus Hyalocylis Fol, 1875
      - Genus Styliola Gray, 1847
      - Genus Thecopsella Munier-Chalmas, 1888 †
      - Genus Tibiella O. Meyer, 1884 †
    - Family Cuvierinidae van der Spoel, 1967
      - Genus Cuvierina Boas, 1886
      - Genus Ireneia A. W. Janssen, 1995 †
    - Family Sphaerocinidae A. W. Janssen & Maxwell, 1995 †
      - Genus Sphaerocina Jung, 1971 †
  - Superfamily Limacinoidea Gray, 1840
    - Family Limacinidae Gray, 1840
      - Genus Altaspiratella Korobkov, 1966 †
      - Genus Currylimacina A. W. Janssen, 2003 †
      - Genus Heliconoides d’Orbigny, 1836
      - Genus Limacina Bosc, 1817
      - Genus Skaptotion Curry, 1965 †
      - Genus Striolimacina A. W. Janssen, 1999 †
      - Genus Thielea Strebel, 1908
- Suborder Gymnosomata
  - Superfamily Clionoidea Rafinesque, 1815
    - Family Clionidae Rafinesque, 1815
      - Genus Cephalobrachia Bonnevie, 1913
      - Genus Clione Pallas, 1774
      - Genus Fowlerina Pelseneer, 1906
      - Genus Massya Pruvot-Fol, 1924
      - Genus Paedoclione Danforth, 1907
      - Genus Paraclione Tesch, 1903
      - Genus Thalassopterus Kwietniewski, 1910
      - Genus Thliptodon Boas, 1886
    - Family Cliopsidae O. G. Costa, 1873
      - Genus Cliopsis Troschel, 1854
      - Genus Pruvotella Pruvot-Fol, 1932
    - Family Notobranchaeidae Pelseneer, 1886
      - Genus Notobranchaea Pelseneer, 1886
    - Family Pneumodermatidae Latreille, 1825
      - Genus Abranchaea F.-S. Zhang, 1964
      - Genus Platybrachium Minichev, 1976
      - Genus Pneumoderma de Roissy, 1805
      - Genus Pneumodermopsis Keferstein, 1862
      - Genus Schizobrachium Meisenheimer, 1903
      - Genus Spongiobranchaea d’Orbigny, 1836
  - Superfamily Hydromyloidea Pruvot-Fol, 1942 (1862)
    - Family Hydromylidae Pruvot-Fol, 1942 (1862)
      - Genus Hydromyles Gistel, 1848
    - Family Laginiopsidae Pruvot-Fol, 1922
      - Genus Laginiopsis Pruvot-Fol, 1922
- Suborder Pseudothecosomata
  - Superfamily Cymbulioidea Gray, 1840
    - Family Cymbuliidae Gray, 1840
      - Subfamily Cymbuliinae Gray, 1840
        
        Genus Cymbulia Péron & Lesueur, 1810
      - Subfamily Glebinae van der Spoel, 1976
        
        Genus Corolla Dall, 1871
        
        Genus Gleba Forsskål in Niebuhr, 1776
    - Family Desmopteridae Chun, 1889
      - Genus Desmopterus Chun, 1889
    - Family Peraclidae Tesch, 1913
      - Genus Peracle Forbes, 1844

There are about 80 species of pteropods reported worldwide, of which 37 have been reported in the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, and about 16 have been reported in Catalan waters.

These are the different subgroups of Pteropoda: