Classification

Since the 1980s, gastropod classification has been the subject of extensive debate. Major revisions based on detailed information about traditional anatomy and shell features have been challenged by cladistic attempts to identify changes that have taken place once in the evolutionary history of a group and thus derive phylogenetic schemes, attempts to delineate the genealogy of groups based primarily on neurological structures. Both traditional and cladistic classification schemes are being tested by data from molecular studies. Given the antiquity of the gastropods as a group, however, it is perhaps realistic to expect that most changes have occurred more than once. Graham gave an excellent review of anatomic and functional trends, concluding that many of the groups historically recognized as advanced are grades reached by several taxa independently, not monophyletic clades (groups with the same ancestor).

A conservative classification is presented below, basically using concepts from S.P. Parker (1982) and F.W. Harrison (1992).

• Class Gastropoda (snails and slugs)

  Snails typically with a calcareous shell, slugs with greatly reduced shell; length ranges from about 1 mm to 130 cm; more than 65,000 species widely distributed in marine, freshwater, and land regions.

  • Subclass Prosobranchia

    Streptoneurous (twisted) gastropods with an anteriorly located mantle cavity (space lined with epidermis); operculum (protective cover) generally present; sexes separate; shell can usually hold entire animal; primarily marine, several freshwater and terrestrial groups; about 33,000 species.

    • • Order Diotocardia (Archaeogastropoda)

        Heart usually with 2 auricles; 1 or 2 internal gills; no penis, siphon (organ used in food location), or proboscis (feeding organ); nervous system not concentrated; sex cells discharged by way of the right nephridium (kidney); about 3,000 species.

        • • Superfamily Zeugobranchia (Pleurotomariacea)

            Slit shells (Pleurotomariidae) in deep ocean waters; abalones (Haliotidae) in shallow waters along rocky shores of western North America, Japan, Australia, and South Africa; keyhole limpets (Fissurellidae) in intertidal rocky areas.

          • Superfamily Patellacea (Docoglossa)

            Conical-shelled limpets, without slits or holes, found in rocky shallow waters (Acmaeidae and Patellidae).

          • Superfamily Trochacea

            Small to large spiral shells in shallow to deep ocean waters, often brightly coloured, with or without heavy shell ornamentation; Trochidae (top shells), Turbinidae (turban shells), and Phasianellidae (pheasant shells).

          • Superfamily Neritacea

            Small, generally intertidal marine shells (Neritidae), with some freshwater dwellers, particularly in Indonesia and the Philippines (Neritidae), and 2 groups of land dwellers: 1 sparsely distributed in the Old World (Hydrocenidae) and 1 widely distributed in both Old and New World tropics (Helicinidae).

      • Order Monotocardia

        Heart with 1 auricle; 1 gill, often modified; siphon and chemoreception osphradium (sensory receptor) progressively more complex; penis present; head frequently modified into a proboscis; nervous system progressively more concentrated; about 30,000 species.

        • Suborder Mesogastropoda (Taenioglossa)

          Radula taenioglossate (with 7 denticles, or teeth) or reduced; most taxa herbivorous; a few families parasites or predators.

          • Superfamily Cyclophoracea

            Land snails; particularly abundant in the West Indies and southern Asia to Melanesia.

          • Superfamily Viviparacea

            Large, 2.5- to 5-cm globular pond and river snails of the Northern Hemisphere (Viviparidae) and tropical regions (Ampullariidae); frequently used in freshwater aquariums with tropical fish.

          • Superfamily Littorinacea

            Periwinkles, on rocky shores (Littorinidae) of all oceans; land snails of the West Indies, part of Africa, and Europe (Pomatiasidae).

          • Superfamily Rissoacea

            Small to minute, generally cylindrical, marine, freshwater and land snails found in most tropical and warm temperate regions of the world; about 17 families.

          • Superfamily Cerithiacea

            Minute to large, generally elaborately sculptured shells, common in mud flats and mangroves, many species sand dwellers, with 1 group of families (Thiaridae, Pleuroceridae, Melanopsidae) especially abundant and varied in the Tennessee and Alabama river systems; 13 marine families, including worm shells (Vermetidae), horn shells (Potamididae), and button shells (Modulidae).

          • Superfamily Strombacea

            Foot and operculum greatly modified and move with a lurching motion; feed on algae and plants; some species used for human food; conchs (Strombidae) of tropical oceans and the pelican’s foot shells (Aporrhaidae) of near Arctic waters.

          • Superfamily Calyptraeacea

            Cap shells (Capulidae) and slipper shells (Calyptraeidae) are limpets with irregularly shaped shells with a small internal cup or shelf; many species show sex reversal, becoming males early in life, then changing into females during old age; common on rocks and clamshells and in dead large snail shells in most oceans.

          • Superfamily Cypraeacea

            Cowrie shells (Cypraeidae) and egg shells (Ovulidae) have highly polished and brilliantly coloured shells; mantle, which may cover the shell, is a totally different colour pattern; if touched, members of group suddenly withdraw, the change in colour serving to confuse predators; common in shallow tropical oceans, some species in cooler waters.

          • Superfamily Naticacea

            Moon shells (Naticidae) medium-sized, globular predators on burrowing bivalves: bore a hole in the clamshell using acid secretions, then insert the radula to feed; common in most oceans.

          • Superfamily Ptenoglossa (Scalacea)

            Wentletraps (Epitoniidae) live in shallow to deep ocean waters; purple snails (Janthinidae) float on the ocean surface after building a raft of bubbles; large numbers of bubble shells occasionally blow ashore.

          • Superfamily Aglossa

            Parasitic or predatory snails either with a reduced radula or with none, jaws often modified into a stylet-shaped structure; many occur on echinoderms; consists of several poorly known families.

          • Superfamily Doliacea (Tonnacea)

            Generally tropical predators on echinoderms; often burrow in sand; includes helmet shells (Cassidae), tun shells (Doliidae), frog shells (Bursidae), triton shells (Cymatiidae), and fig shells (Ficidae); frog and triton shells often live in rocky areas; most species large in size.

        • Suborder Neogastropoda (Stenoglossa)

          Carnivorous or scavengers with rachiglossate (with 3 denticles) or taxoglossate (with 2 denticles) radula; shell often with long siphonal canal; proboscis well developed and often extensible; shells generally large; all marine.

          • Superfamily Muricacea

            Murex shells (Muricidae), rock shells (Purpuridae), and coral shells (Coralliophilidae) are common predators, often boring into shells of their prey; rock shells common in cooler waters, others mostly tropical.

          • Superfamily Buccineacea

            Scavengers that have lost the mechanisms for boring; dove shells (Columbellidae), mud snails (Nassariidae), tulip shells (Fasciolariidae), whelks (Buccinidae), and crown conchs (Galeodidae) mainly cool-water species; but dove and tulip shells have many tropical representatives.

          • Superfamily Volutacea

            Harp shells (Harpidae), olive shells (Olividae), mitre shells (Mitridae), volute shells (Volutidae), nutmeg shells (Cancellariidae), and marginellas (Marginellidae) generally have operculum reduced or lacking; most are tropical ocean dwellers, active predators or scavengers; many olive, volute, and marginella shells are highly polished and colourful.

          • Superfamily Toxoglossa

            Auger shells (Terebridae), cone shells (Conidae) and turrid shells (Turridae) are carnivorous marine snails with poison glands attached to highly modified radular teeth; several cone shells have caused human deaths through poisoning and can catch and kill fish.

  • Subclass Opisthobranchia

    Shell reduced or lacking, usually too small for withdrawal of animal; mantle cavity often lost, rotated to right side and facing anteriorly; hermaphroditic; operculum generally lost; nerve ganglia (clusters) very concentrated; marine except for 4 species; about 4,000 species.

    • • Order Cephalaspidea

        Shell present, often capable of containing whole body; head shield developed; Acteonidae with operculum; 14 families.

      • Order Pyramidellacea

        Spiral shell; operculum present; gill and radula absent; long proboscis with stylet; ectoparasitic; in warm oceanic areas; generally minute.

      • Order Acochlidacea

        Three families with visceral mass longer than foot; 4 species in fresh water; a few with sexes in separate animals; size minute.

      • Order Philinoglossacea

        No head appendages; gill lacking; no external shell; 2 families.

      • Order Anaspidea

        Shell reduced to flat plate; feed on large seaweed rather than microscopic algae; sea hares (Aplysiidae); 1 other small family.

      • Order Notaspidea

        Shell and gill usually present; no parapodia (extensions of foot); sperm groove open; shell prominent, reduced, or hidden by mantle; 2 families.

      • Order Sacoglossa

        One file of radular teeth; sperm duct a closed tube; shell reduced to bivalved (Juliidae); many feed by sucking juices out of algae; several families with uncertain limits.

      • Order Thecosomata

        Shell present; pelagic ciliary feeders; no gill; 6 families.

      • Order Gymnosomata

        Shell absent; no mantle cavity; complicated feeding mechanisms; pelagic carnivores; 7 families.

      • Order Nudibranchia

        Sea slugs without shell, mantle cavity, osphradium, or internal gill; many feed on sessile animals; few swimmers (family Tethyidae); highly colourful, often conspicuous.

  • Subclass Pulmonata

    Mantle cavity altered into a pulmonary sac; no gills or operculum; 1 auricle of heart anterior to ventricle; hermaphroditic; shell spiral to limpetlike, often reduced to a fragment hidden by mantle; mainly terrestrial or freshwater, few marine; about 28,000 species.

    • Superorder Systellommatophora

      Mantle cavity absent; anal and usually nephridial opening at posterior; male gonopore behind right tentacle; female gonopore middle of right side; sole of foot narrow; no shell; 2 pairs of retractile, or invaginable, tentacles; marine (Onchidiidae), terrestrial and herbivorous (Veronicellidae), or terrestrial and carnivorous (Rathouisiidae); about 200 species.

    • Superorder Basommatophora

      Mantle cavity present; eyes at base of 1 pair of tentacles; male and female gonopore separate, usually on right side of body; shell conical to patelliform; mostly freshwater but a few land and marine taxa; about 1,000 species. (No agreement exists concerning suprafamilial classification of the Basommatophora. The following superfamilies, though not grouped into formal orders and suborders, are listed in order of increasing specialization.)

      • • • Superfamily Patelliformia

            Brackish water or marine limpets with (Siphonariidae) gill-like structures or with a lung (Gadinidae).

          • Superfamily Amphibolacea

            Operculum present; shell conical; with pulmonary cavity; brackish water; burrow in sand; 1 family.

          • Superfamily Ellobiacea

            Conical shells; pulmonary chamber; in tidal zone or salt flats, under rocks in spray zone, or completely terrestrial; 2 families.

          • Superfamily Lymnaeacea

            Small to large, spiral-shelled snails of ponds, lakes, and rivers; 1 limpet group (Lancidae) and larger typical group (Lymnaeidae).

          • Superfamily Ancylacea

            Limpets (Ancylidae), ramshorns (Planorbidae), and pond snails (Physidae); all restricted to freshwater habitats.

    • Superorder Stylommatophora

      Mantle cavity a pulmonary sac; gonopores with common opening on right side or at most narrowly separated; shell conical to vestigial, heavily to weakly calcified; eyes at tips of upper (usually) tentacles; terrestrial; about 26,800 species.

      • Order Orthurethra

        Pore of ureter opening into mantle cavity (part of the viscera) near anterior margin of lung after ureter passes forward from anterior kidney margin; about 6,000 species.

        • • Superfamily Achatinellacea

            Minute to medium-sized Pacific land snails with multicuspid radular denticles; many Hawaiian species highly coloured and variable.

          • Superfamilies Cionellacea and Pupillacea

            Minute leaf-litter to arboreal snails, occasionally (Enidae) large; shells often with denticles in the aperture; 10 families.

          • Superfamily Partulacea

            Small, generally arboreal snails found on high volcanic islands of Polynesia and Micronesia, a few in Melanesia.

      • Order Mesurethra

        Ureter represented by lateral opening of very short kidney, pore of ureter opening near or behind middle of mantle cavity; about 1,500 species.

        • • Superfamily Clausiliacea

            Elongated shells of West Indian shore salt-spray zone (Cerionidae) or Andean mountains of South America and Eurasia (Clausiliidae).

          • Superfamily Strophocheilacea

            Large helicoidal to elongated shells of South America (Strophocheilidae) or southwestern Africa (Dorcasiidae).

      • Order Sigmurethra

        Ureter originates near anterior margin of kidney, follows backward to posterior end, then reflexes forward along hindgut to open alongside anus; position greatly altered in sluglike forms; about 18,000 species.

        • Suborder Holopodopes

          A group of 4 superfamilies.

          • Superfamily Achatinacea

            Besides the giant African snail, 4 families, including many species spread by commerce throughout the world.

          • Superfamilies Streptaxacea and Rhytidacea

            Carnivorous snails and slugs (4 families) in most tropical areas, plus the herbivorous Acavidae of Australia, Sri Lanka, and Madagascar.

          • Superfamily Bulimulacea

            Large, often arboreal snails of Melanesia and Neotropica (Bulimulidae); long, cylindrical snails of West Indies and Central America (Urocoptidae).

        • Suborder Aulacopoda

          A group of 3 superfamilies.

          • Superfamily Succineacea

            A problematic group including amber snails (Succineidae), which inhabit swamps and damp areas, and peculiar slugs from the South Pacific (Athoracophoridae).

          • Superfamily Arionacea

            A group possessing marginal teeth of radula with squarish basal plates and 1 to several cusps; small litter or tree snails mainly in Southern Hemisphere (Endodontidae); slugs (Arionidae and Philomycidae) in the Northern Hemisphere.

          • Superfamily Limacacea

            Marginal teeth of radula with narrow, lengthened basal plates, usually unicuspid; zonitid snails with smooth shells and many sluglike species, common in wet, tropical areas and in temperate regions; about 12 families, including limacid and milacid slugs.

        • Suborder Holopoda

          A group of 3 superfamilies.

          • Superfamily Polygyracea

            Common woodland snails of eastern North America (Polygyridae), plus a Neotropical group (Thysanophoridae) and a relict group of Asia (Corillidae).

          • Superfamily Oleacinacea

            Carnivorous (Oleaciniidae) and herbivorous (Sagdidae) snails of the Neotropical region.

          • Superfamily Helicacea

            Land snails without (Oreohelicidae and Camaenidae) or with (Bradybaenidae, Helminthoglyptidae, and Helicidae) accessory glands on the genitalia; dominant land snails in most regions, including the edible snails of Europe (Helicidae).