Neomphalina
Neomphalina is a major taxonomic grouping of sea snails, vent-endemic marine gastropod mollusks that form a very ancient lineage, going back to the Palaeozoic era.
The superfamily Neomphaloidea was regarded for a long time as belonging within the clade Vetigastropoda. Molecular phylogeny showed however that it belongs in its own clade, the Neomphalina, and that this clade is basal to the Vetigastropoda. The Neomphalina is a monophyletic clade, with uncertain relations among the gastropods.
The clade Neomphalina has the largest in situ radiation in hydrothermal vent habitats.
References
External links
Steffen Kiel (2010), The Vent and Seep Biota: Aspects from Microbes to Ecosystems, Nature
A. Warén, S. Bengtson, S. K. Goffredi & C. L. Van Dover, A hydrothermal-vent gastropod with iron sulfide biomineralized dermal sclerites
Thomas Kunze, Martin Hess, Martin Brückner, Friederike Beck & Gerhard Haszprunar, Skeneimorph gastropods in Neomphalina and Vetigastropoda — A preliminary report, Zoosymposia 1: 119–131 (2008); ISSN 1178-9913