Neopilina galatheae is a species of monoplacophoran, a superficially limpet-like marine mollusc.[1] The generic name means "new Pilina" (after an extinct monoplacophoran species), while the specific name references the second Galathea expedition, during which it was described 1952.[2] It lives in depths of 5000 meters and the shell is 3 centimeters in length in adults. [3]

Neopilina galatheae
The holotype of N. galatheae at the Zoological Museum, Copenhagen
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Monoplacophora
Order: Neopilinida
Family: Neopilinidae
Genus: Neopilina
Species:
N. galatheae
Binomial name
Neopilina galatheae
Lemche, 1957

The species was discovered off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica in the 1950s, where 10 specimens were collected. Later, additional specimens have been collected off the coast of Chile and off Cabo San Lucas, Baja California, Mexico.[4] The species was the first living monoplacophoran to be discovered; previously the taxon had been considered extinct for 375 million years. Shortly after its description, the discovery of the species was described as "a zoological discovery of the first order".[5]

References

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  1. ^ MolluscaBase (2020). Bieler R, Bouchet P, Gofas S, Marshall B, Rosenberg G, La Perna R, Neubauer TA, Sartori AF, Schneider S, Vos C, ter Poorten JJ, Taylor J, Dijkstra H, Finn J, Bank R, Neubert E, Moretzsohn F, Faber M, Houart R, Picton B, Garcia-Alvarez O (eds.). "Neopilina galatheae". MolluscaBase. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  2. ^ Lemche, Henning (1957). "A New Living Deep-Sea Mollusc of the Cambro-Devonian Class Monoplacophora". Nature. 179 (4556): 413–416. doi:10.1038/179413a0. ISSN 0028-0836.
  3. ^ Pechenik, Jan A. (2015). "Chapter 12: The Molluscs". In Peden, Jane (ed.). Biology of the Invertebrates (7 ed.). McGraw-Hill Education. ISBN 978-0073524184.
  4. ^ Schwabe, Enrico (2008). A summary of reports of abyssal and hadal Monoplacophora and Polyplacophora (Mollusca). In: Martínez Arbizu, P. & Brix, S. (Eds) (2008) Bringing Light into Deep-sea Biodiversity. Zootaxa, 1866, 1–574.
  5. ^ Yonge, C. M. (1957). "Reflexions on the monoplacophoran, Neopilina galatheae Lemche" (PDF). Nature. 179 (4561): 672–673. doi:10.1038/179672a0. S2CID 35400819.