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:

Pteropoda Cuvier, 1804

• Euthecosomata Meisenheimer, 1905
  • Cavolinioidea J. E. Gray, 1850 (1815)
    • Cavoliniidae J. E. Gray, 1850 (1815)
      • Cavoliniinae J. E. Gray, 1850 (1815)
        • Cavolinia Abildgaard, 1791
        • Diacavolinia van der Spoel, 1987
      • Diacriinae Rampal, 2019
        • Diacria J. E. Gray, 1840
        • Telodiacria Rampal, 2019
      • Vaginellinae A. W. Janssen, 2020
    • Cliidae Jeffreys, 1869
      • Clio Linnaeus, 1767
    • Creseidae Rampal, 1973
      • Boasia Dall, 1889
      • Creseis Rang, 1828
      • Styliola Gray, 1847
    • Cuvierinidae van der Spoel, 1967
      • Cuvierina Boas, 1886
    • Hyalocylidae A. W. Janssen, 2020
      • Hyalocylis Fol, 1875
  • Limacinoidea Gray, 1840
    • Heliconoididae Rampal, 2019
      • Heliconoides A. d’Orbigny, 1835
    • Limacinidae Gray, 1840
      • Limacina Bosc, 1817
    • Thieleidae Rampal, 2019
      • Thielea Strebel, 1908
• Gymnosomata Blainville, 1824
  • Clionoidea Rafinesque, 1815
    • Clionidae Rafinesque, 1815
      • Cephalobrachia Bonnevie, 1913
      • Clione Pallas, 1774
      • Fowlerina Pelseneer, 1906
      • Massya Pruvot-Fol, 1924
      • Paedoclione Danforth, 1907
      • Paraclione Tesch, 1903
      • Thalassopterus Kwietniewski, 1910
      • Thliptodon Boas, 1886
    • Cliopsidae O. G. Costa, 1873
      • Cliopsis Troschel, 1854
      • Pruvotella Pruvot-Fol, 1932
    • Notobranchaeidae Pelseneer, 1886
      • Notobranchaea Pelseneer, 1886
    • Pneumodermatidae Latreille, 1825
      • Abranchaea F.-S. Zhang, 1964
      • Platybrachium Minichev, 1976
      • Pneumoderma de Roissy, 1805
      • Pneumodermopsis W. Keferstein, 1862
      • Schizobrachium Meisenheimer, 1903
      • Spongiobranchia A. d’Orbigny, 1836
  • Hydromyloidea Pruvot-Fol, 1942 (1862)
    • Hydromylidae Pruvot-Fol, 1942 (1862)
      • Hydromyles Gistel, 1848
    • Laginiopsidae Pruvot-Fol, 1922
      • Laginiopsis Pruvot-Fol, 1922
• Pseudothecosomata Meisenheimer, 1905
  • Cymbulioidea Gray, 1840
    • Cymbuliidae Gray, 1840
      • Cymbuliinae Gray, 1840
        • Cymbulia F. Péron & Lesueur, 1810
      • Glebinae van der Spoel, 1976
        • Corolla Dall, 1871
        • Gleba Forsskål, 1776
    • Desmopteridae Chun, 1889
      • Desmopterus Chun, 1889
    • Peraclidae Tesch, 1913
      • 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:

Euthecosomata

Pseudothecosomata

Gymnosomata