Vetigastropoda Temporal range:
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Various shells of Vetigastropoda | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
Subclass: | Vetigastropoda Salvini-Plawen, 1989 |
Superfamilies | |
See text | |
Diversity[2] | |
3,700 extant species |
Vetigastropoda is a major taxonomic group of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks that form a very ancient lineage. Taxonomically the Vetigastropoda are sometimes treated as an order, although they are treated as an unranked clade in Bouchet and Rocroi, 2005.
Vetigastropods are considered to be among the most primitive living gastropods,[3] and are widely distributed in all oceans of the world. Their habitats range from the deep sea to intertidal zones. Many have shells with slits or other secondary openings. One of their main characteristics is the presence of intersected crossed platy shell structure.[4] Most vetigastropods have some bilateral asymmetry of their organ systems.[5]
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