Lurifax, Waren & Bouchet, 2001

Hawe, Andreas & Haszprunar, Gerhard, 2014, 3 D-microanatomy and histology of the hydrothermal vent gastropod Lurifax vitreus Warén & Bouchet, 2001 (Heterobranchia: Orbitestellidae) and comparisons with Ectobranchia, Organisms Diversity & Evolution (New York, N. Y.) 14 (1), pp. 43-55 : 53

Placement of Lurifax among Orbitestellidae and monophyly of the family

Aside from non-planispiral and poorly sculptured shell, the larger size, the multispiral protoconch, and the hydrothermal vent habitat, only a few anatomical features differ between Lurifax and the remaining Orbitestellidae investigated by Ponder (1990a) and Simone and Zelaya (2004). Thus, Lurifax has significantly larger salivary glands and therefore smaller posterior pedal glands than its shallow water relatives. Otherwise, the orbitestellid anatomy appears very uniform. However, including the present work, only 5 of about 25 species have been studied concerning anatomy, and also molecular data are currently restricted to two species, thus statements about detailed internal systematics would be premature.

Based on the previous studies and the present work, the following features are considered as synapomorphies of Orbitestellidae reflecting the monophyly of this taxon ( Table 1):