Wikipedia:WikiProject Gastropods

A shell of the deepwater sea snail Guilfordia yoka, a turbinid

The gastropods, also sometimes known as gasteropods, or univalves, scientific name Gastropoda, commonly known as snails (and slugs), are the largest and most successful class of mollusks, with 60,000-75,000 known living species. This class contains a vast number of marine species as well as many brackish water, freshwater, and terrestrial species.

Land gastropods include the familiar snails and slugs. Marine species include abalone, limpets, cowries, conch, and most of the sea snails that produce seashells, as well as many seaslugs that do not have shells, or have only a reduced shell or internal shell (see for example the nudibranchs).

The first gastropods were exclusively marine, with the earliest representatives of the group appearing in the Late Cambrian (Chippewaella, Strepsodiscus). By the Ordovician period the gastropods were a varied group present in a range of aquatic habitats. Fossil gastropods are less common during the Palaeozoic era than bivalves.

The coat of arms of Zell, in Zürich, Switzerland, shows a stylized shelled stylommatophoran, a pulmonate land snail, (in heraldic terms, a snail "sejant erect" on a field "vert").

By the Carboniferous period, many of the shapes we see in living marine gastropods can be matched in the fossil record, but despite these similarities in appearance the majority of these older forms are not directly related to living forms. It was during the Mesozoic era that the ancestors of many of the living gastropods evolved.

Gastropods are one of the groups that record the changes in fauna caused by the advance and retreat of the Ice Sheets during the Pleistocene epoch.

Malacologists study mollusks. Conchology is the scientific study of the shells of mollusks, and is sometimes viewed as a branch of malacology.

Most children, and considerable numbers of adults too, enjoy picking up seashells on the beach. Archeological studies show that this interest in seashells goes back many thousands of years; the oldest jewelry (necklace beads) in the world are Nassarius shell beads, which may be as old as 100,000 before present.

Participants

Conchologists are welcome too!

If you would like to participate in WikiProject Gastropods, click here and place your signature (~~~~) at the bottom of the list.

• JoJan - 13:20, 10 May 2004 (UTC)
• Enlil Ninlil - 00:59, 11 April 2006 (UTC) Australian and extinct Gastropods.
• Samsara - 22:08, 7 May 2006 (UTC)
• EdWBaker - 14:01, 25 February 2007 (UTC)
• snek01 - 19:26, 26 February 2007 (UTC) - Central European gastropods.
• Invertzoo - 13:06, 12 August 2007 (UTC) Caribbean marine, British non-marine, and Californian marine
• Tim Ross 12:06, 27 September 2007 (UTC) - land snails, especially North American
• Trulystand700 - Shellfish ["joined" dozens of projects but has never been active here]
• Turbonilla - Heterogastropoda [is still active in his area of gastropods]
• Anna Frodesiak - 21:49, 14 March 2009
• Daniel Cavallari (talk) 02:46, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

The following items are desirable for articles of all levels, although the details will vary depending on several factors.

These items do not necessarily need to be separated into distinct sections, and lists of facts are best avoided unless the information is significantly clearer when presented that way. Text should flow in continuous prose as far as possible. Avoid sentence fragments, even in shell descriptions.

The order this information is included is also relatively unimportant, although the order listed is generally preferred.

• Title - In cases where the common name is not really well known and widely known, please use the scientific name instead.
• Taxobox - This is a necessity for articles that are about a gastropod taxon. See information in the following section.
• Introduction - Please make sure that the first sentence is intelligible to non-specialists. For example, say "land snail" and then say terrestrial gastropod.
• Description (physical, behavioral) - What makes this (group of) gastropod(s) different from its close relatives?
• Habitat - What type of environments does it live in?
• Distribution - Which areas and countries does it live in? Where is it native? Where is it introduced? Maps are helpful.
• Human uses - Cultural, religious, economic, medical, etc. importance - what impact has it had on humans?
• Classification - How does it fit into the Tree of Life? We are currently using the newest classification Taxonomy of the Gastropoda (Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005), which is also outlined in Gastropoda. Whenever you come across one of the many articles where the taxoboxes and/or text are using older taxonomy, please take the time to update it, or at least to delete the outdated sections of the taxobox.
• Photograph(s) - where possible, images of the living animal, especially in situ, are most valuable. Images of an empty shell are very useful as supporting material, but are not ideal to represent a species. (When posting an image of a shell, or when you come across an image of a shell in an article, in the caption please describe it as the shell of the species, to counteract the fairly common idea that the shell is the species.)
  • Captions of photos - where possible include not only the identification, but also the locality.
    • Are you about to take some photos for the project? Please either include a millimeter scale bar or the edge of a ruler (not a coin) in your picture, or, measure the shell or animal and record how large it is as part of the description when you upload the image. When you write the description notes, please say where the shell or live animal was found (assuming you know that, assuming that it was found in nature, not bought in a shop), and also if possible say when it was found. Thank you.

• References
• Categories

A note about related articles

When you create a species article, once you are finished with it, if no genus article exists, please consider taking the time to modify what you did in order to create a simple genus stub as well. This takes very little extra time. A family article often already exists, and if so, then creating a genus stub links the species article up into the rest of the "Tree of Life" structure. Thanks.

Taxoboxes in general

Nerita plicata
A cluster of Nerita plicata on a rock in Fiji
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Mollusca Class: Gastropoda (unranked): clade Neritimorpha clade Cycloneritimorpha Superfamily: Neritoidea Family: Neritidae Genus: Nerita Subgenus: Ritena Species: N. plicata
Binomial name
Nerita plicata Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms
Nerita lactaria Linnaeus, 1771 Nerita eburnea Röding P.F., 1798 Nerita otaitensis Lesson R.P., 1831 Nerita ringens Reeve L.A., 1855

All gastropod articles which are about an individual taxon should have a taxobox. This is something that has been inherited from the Tree of Life WikiProject, of which WikiProject Gastropods is a subproject. The taxobox should always be positioned at the top right-hand side of the page.

A taxobox for the marine gastropod species Nerita plicata is shown on the right.

The following text is adapted from the Wikipedia:WikiProject_Tree_of_Life#Taxoboxes. Please also see Wikipedia:Taxobox usage

There are three main parts in a taxobox, in terms of how it appears on the page:

• A header which shows the name of the group, followed (when possible) by a representative image.

• A table which shows the placement of the group in the most up-to-date system of taxonomy, which in the case of gastropods is currently that of Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005.

• A footer, whose content varies: it shows the binomial name and sometimes synonyms in the case of a species, and in the case of higher taxa, it instead shows a list of subgroups.

Some items that can also be included in the taxobox, but are not (necessarily) standardized, include:

• Range map - Found here - (see, for example, Orca)
• Fossil record: presence over time
• Synonyms

See also :

• Wikipedia:How to use tables

How to include clades in gastropod taxoboxes

Note 1: The Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005 taxonomy uses Linnaean taxa for the categories Class and above, and uses Linnaean taxa for superfamily and below, but contains only unranked clades and informal groups for the intermediate levels. Please adhere to this system. Thank you.

Note 2: The names of the unranked clades do not fit into the template simply, like the Linnaean taxa do, thus, after a fair bit of thought and experimentation, we are now using a system where we insert the clades and informal groups one under the other in the taxobox. In code it is done like this:

| classis = [[Gastropoda]]

| unranked_familia = clade [[Nameofclade]]<br/> informal group [[Nameofinformalgroup]]<br/> clade [[Otherclade]]<br/> clade [[Anotherclade]]

| superfamilia = [[Proceedasnormal]]

Please use this system in any new article. Also, when you come across out-of-date taxonomy within a taxobox in any gastropod article, please remove the out-of-date parts and replace them with content which is arranged in this manner, and which is based on Bouchet & Rocroi's work. If you come across a taxobox that shows no taxa at all between the level of class and superfamily, please insert the appropriate new taxonomy in the approved arrangement. A very large number of gastropod articles need their taxoboxes updating. If you can help with this in any way it will be very much appreciated. Thank you.

Blanks as an aid to starting articles

Copy & paste taxobox and article blank for a gastropod species

Note about italics in titles

The field name = is omitted in this example. Without that field, the code will automatically format the taxobox title and also the title of the article from the appropriate field lower down that lists the taxon name. In other words, when you omit the name field, the name of the article will automatically be shown in italics (assuming it is a genus or species name, and also assuming that it is correctly entered in italics in the appropriate field lower down.

However: Some editors strongly feel that leaving the name field in place and adding {{italictitle}} above the taxobox code is a preferable way to implement an italic title. There are discussion in progress about the possible use of a bot to change all genus and species titles over to italics automatically.

This matter has not been settled yet; as of June 21st 2009 there was no consensus on this question.

{{Taxobox
| image = 
| image_caption = ''{{subst:PAGENAME}}''
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Mollusca]]
| classis = [[Gastropoda]]
| unranked_familia =
| superfamilia = 
| familia = [[FAMILIA]]
| subfamilia =
| genus = ''[[GENUS]]''
| subgenus =
| species = '''''XXXXXXXXXX'''''
| binomial = ''{{subst:PAGENAME}}''
| binomial_authority = 
| synonyms =
}}

'''''{{subst:PAGENAME}}''''' is a [[species]] of sea [[slug]], a dorid [[nudibranch]], a shell-less [[marine (ocean)|marine]] [[opisthobranch]] [[gastropod]] [[mollusk]] in the family [[xxxxxxxxx]].
 
== Distribution ==
*

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==

[[Category:Gastropods]]


{{gastropod-stub}}

Copy & paste first sentence of an article for a land pulmonate species

'''''{{subst:PAGENAME}}''''' is a [[species]] of air-breathing land [[snail]], a [[terrestrial animal|terrestrial]] [[pulmonate]] [[gastropod]] [[mollusk]] in the family [[xxxxxx]].

Copy & paste blank taxobox, first sentence and headings for a genus article

{{Taxobox
| image = 
| image_caption = ''{{subst:PAGENAME}}''
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Mollusca]]
| classis = [[Gastropoda]]
| unranked_familia =
| superfamilia = 
| familia = [[FAMILIA]]
| subfamilia =
| genus = '''''{{subst:PAGENAME}}'''''
| genus_authority = 
| synonyms = 
| subdivision_ranks = [[Species]]
| subdivision =
See text
}}

'''''{{subst:PAGENAME}}''''' is a [[genus]] of small, air-breathing, land [[snail]]s, [[Terrestrial animal|terrestrial]] [[pulmonate]] [[gastropod]] [[mollusc]]s in the [[family (biology)|family]] [[FAMILIA]].

== Species ==
Species in the genus ''{{subst:PAGENAME}}'' include:
* ''[[SPECIES]]''

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{gastropod-stub}}


[[Category:Gastropods]]

Article sections

No strict rules (yet). Follow guidelines obvious in other articles. See also for example Wikipedia:WikiProject Animals/Article template and Wikipedia:WikiProject_Birds#Article sections

Names and titles

Obvious conventions according to Wikipedia:Naming conventions (fauna). See also for example Wikipedia:WikiProject_Birds#Names_and_titles.

• If there is a different name, there have been used disambiguated names like (genus), examples: Bithynia (genus), Galba (genus), ...

TASK(?): rename all of them or only those with name of a different taxon?

• For various genera of the same name use (gastropod):
  • correct: Pyramidula (gastropod)
  • incorrect(?): Williamia (mollusc) --> correct Williamia (gastropod)

TASK: Find out an official guide for this (it probably does not mention such details). TASK: find out all gastropod disambiguated names named "(mollusc)" and rename them to (gastropod).

NOT HOMONYMS (alphabetically):

• Bithynia (genus) - not homonym
• Columbarium (gastropod) - not homonym
• Libera (gastropod)
• Patella (gastropod)

HOMONYMS (alphabetically): homonym (biology), http://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_valid_homonyms

• † Agnesia (gastropod) de Koninck, 1883 (Porcelliidae) - Agnesia (plant)
• Buchanania (gastropod) Lesson, 1831 (Fissurellidae) - Buchanania (plant)
• Clathrus (gastropod) VERIFY - Clathrus (fungi)
• Clypeola (gastropod) Gray, 1868 (Calyptraeidae) - Clypeola (plant)
• Clypeolum (gastropod) Récluz, 1842 (Neritidae) - Clypeolum (fungi)
• Crosslandia (gastropod) Eliot, 1902 (Scyllaeidae) - Crosslandia (plant)
• Cyclophorus (gastropod) - Cyclophorus (plant) a fern
• Duplicaria (gastropod) Dall, 1908 (Terebridae) - Duplicaria (fungi)
• Dupontia (gastropod) Godwin-Austen, 1908 (Helixarionidae) - Dupontia (plant)

•  ??? Galba (genus) - Galba (butterfly)^{[citation needed]}

• clade Hygrophila (gastropods) - Hygrophila (plant)

• Nodonema (gastropod) from family Portlockiellidae - Nodonema (plant)

• Pyramidula (gastropod) - [[Pyramidula)) (Bryophyta)
• Williamia (gastropod) - Williamia (plant) not homonym?

• Truncatella (gastropod)

Stub types

Category:Gastropod stubs

{{Gastropod-stub}}

{{Paleo-gastropod-stub}}

2005 taxonomy:

Patellogastropoda

Vetigastropoda

Cocculiniformia

Neritimorpha

Caenogastropoda

{{Ampullariidae-stub}} (adds to Gastropod stubs category)
{{Cyclophoridae-stub}} (GET IMAGE, adds to Gastropod stubs category)
{{Diplommatinidae-stub}} (GET IMAGE)
{{Viviparidae-stub}} (adds to Gastropod stubs category)

{{Sorbeoconcha-stub}} + families: {{Assimineidae-stub}} {{Pleuroceridae-stub}} {{Thiaridae-stub}}

family {{Hydrobiidae-stub}}

Heterobranchia

clade {{Heterobranchia-stub}}

   informal group  {{Pulmonata-stub}}
       informal group  {{Basommatophora-stub}}
       clade {{Stylommatophora-stub}} + 9 subcategories

Subcategories of Gastropods:

Image resources (more can be found by searching on Wikimedia Commons)

Images of species that currently do not have an article, but need one:

Shelled marine gastropods (currently none)

some Fissurellidae ?

Nudibranchs and other opisthobranch sea slugs, by genus name A – C (currently none)

Nudibranchs and other opisthobranch sea slugs, by genus D – N

Dolabella auricularia

Doris montereyensis, Doris (genus)

Jorunna funebris, Jorunna

Nudibranch egg ribbon

Nudibranchs and other opisthobranch sea slugs, by genus O –T

Onchidoris bilamellata, Onchidoris	Phidiana indica, Phidiana	Phidiana pugnax	Phyllidia sp.
Phyllidiella pustulosa (?)	Phyllidiopsis fissuratus	Pleurobranchus mamillatus, Pleurobranchus	Pteraeolidia ianthina, Pteraeolidia
Pteraeolidia ianthina	Pteraeolidia ianthina	Pteraeolidia, Pteraeolidia ianthina Lembeh Straits, Indonesia	Reticulidia suzanneae, Reticulidia
Roboastra gracilis, Roboastra	Tambja morosa, Tambja	Tambja morosa	Taringa halgerda, Taringa (genus)
Thecacera sp.

Image resources

• Gastropod Images on Commons

• few images from Achatinidae

• Category:WikiProject Gastropods : Listing of all pages related to the Gastropods WikiProject.

• PLoS Biology - articles with images under Creative Commons Attribution license

• Frontiers in Zoology - articles with images under Creative Commons Attribution license
  • article about Opisthobranchia and Nudibranchia, images of species uploaded. There are still some histological images.

• for article mating in gastropods: http://www.frontiersinzoology.com/content/4/1/17 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/3/13

• (3 images uploded) Haliotis asinina: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/7/160

• Pomacea http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/7/97

Public domain resources

(sorted chronologically)

• Challenger expedition http://www.19thcenturyscience.org/HMSC/HMSC-Reports/Zool-42/htm/doc.html

Images of 18th century paintings are in commons:Gastropoda in scientific graphics gallery too.

100 years after the author's death

• (electronic version needed) Emil Adolf Rossmässler: (1835-1859): Iconographie der Land- und Süßwassermollusken. (3 volumes) [Iconography of land Mollusca and freshwater Mollusca]

• Frederick Wollaston Hutton (1873): Catalogue of the marine Mollusca of New Zealand, with diagnoses of the species.

• William Thomas Blanford (*1832-†1905) (1908): - Mollusca. Testacellidae and Zonitidae. - The Fauna of British India, including Burma and Ceylon.

80 years after the author's death

• The terrestrial air-breathing mollusks of the United States, and the adjacent territories of North America - (there are good images in those books but scans in those pdf are in low quality.)
  • Amos Binney (1803-1847; U.S.A.) & edited by Augustus Addison Gould: Volume 1
  • Volume 2
  • Volume 3
  • Volume 4
  • William Greene Binney (1833-1909; U.S.A.) (1878): Volume 5 - text, plates

• (electronic version needed) Stefan Clessin (*1833-†1911, Germany) (1887): Die Molluskenfauna Österreich-Ungarns und der Schweiz. - pp. 1-858. Nürnberg. (Bauer & Raspe).

• Joseph William Williams; John William Taylor (*1851-†1910); William Denison Roebuck (*1851-†1919) (1892): Land and fresh-water shells: an introduction to the study of conchology. - images exported: Image:Helix aspersa scalarid.png. Other version are: 1889 and 1907

• Henry Suter (1913): Manual of the New Zealand Mollusca

70 years after author's death

• Edward Step (*1855-†1931) (1901): Shell life: an introduction to the British Mollusca. - London, New York: F. Warne & co. - image exported: Image:Anodonta cygnea glochidium.png

• (electronic version needed) John William Taylor (*1845-†1931, U.K.) (1894-1914): Monograph of the land and freshwater Mollusca of the British Isles. Vols. 1-3. Taylor Brothers, Leeds.

• (electronic version needed) Hermann Felix Paul Ehrmann (abbreviation Ehrmann P.) (* 21st December 1868 – † 6th October 1937; Germany) (1933): Mollusca. - In: Brohmer, Ehrmann & Ulmer: Die Tierwelt Mitteleuropas, 2 (Lief. 1) 264 pp. + 13 tables. Leipzig, Quelle & Meyer.

pre-1923 in USA

Publications published before January 1, 1923 in the USA are public domain under {{PD-1923}}.

Notable authors:

• Henry Augustus Pilsbry [1]

Journals:

• The Nautilus (journal) - available volumes 9-35 and new ones - Volumes 3-35 are public domain under {{PD-1923}}. It is possible to add original description of news species which are still valid, for example like in this article about bivalve Ochlockonee moccasinshell.