Neritopsis Grateloup, 1832

Lozouet, Pierre, 2009, A new Neritopsidae (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Neritopsina) from French Polynesia, Zoosystema 31 (1), pp. 189-198 : 190-191

Genus Neritopsis Grateloup, 1832

Neritopsis Grateloup, 1832: 126 , figs 1-3.

TYPE SPECIES. — Neritopsis moniliformis Grateloup, 1832 by monotypy. Lower Miocene of Aquitaine Basin (Aquitanian stage).

It is worth to note that the type species is N. moniliformis from the Miocene of southwestern France, rather than N. radula as was accepted in some monographs (e.g., Moore 1960).

FIG. 1. — Geographic distribution of Neritopsis richeri n. sp. in the Austral Islands, showing the stations cited in the text (★). Courtesy of Benoît Fontaine.

REMARKS

Relationships among the Neritopsina are in the course of study. The slug genus Titiscania Bergh, 1975 which previously had an uncertain systematic position, has been included in this clade ( Kano et al. 2002). The ecological radiation of the Neritopsina is remarkable. Originating from shallow water, Neritopsina have invaded fresh water and terrestrial environments, and live also in brackish waters and in anchialine waters (defined by Kano & Kase [2004] as “bodies of haline water with more or less extensive subterranean connections to the sea, and showing noticeable marine as well as terrestrial influences”). They have colonised deep-sea hydrothermal vents and seeps, and the Neritopsidae take refuge in submarine caves.Preliminary results based on partial 28S rRNA sequence ( Kano et al. 2002) demonstrate that the Neritopsidae is a very distinct, archaic clade.