Ellobiidae, common name the hollow-shelled snails, is a family of small air-breathing land, marine, and brackish snails; pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the clade Eupulmonata.Bouchet, P. (2012). Ellobiidae. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=198 on 2012-08-19 Ellobiidae is the only family in the superfamily Ellobioidea, according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).
Anatomy In this family, the number of haploid chromosomes lies between 16 and 20 (according to the values in this table).Barker G. M.: Gastropods on Land: Phylogeny, Diversity and Adaptive Morphology. in Barker G. M. (ed.): The biology of terrestrial molluscs. CABI Publishing, Oxon, UK, 2001, . 1-146, cited pages: 139 and 142.
They have a distinctive mode of locomotion arising due to a split sole. The front part of the sole adheres to the substrate and then the rear part of the sole is drawn up to the front part.
Taxonomy Species are traditionally classified into five taxonomic groups, the Pythiidae, the Laemodontidae, the Melampodidae, the Ellobiidae and the Carychiidae. These taxa have been recognized either as families within Ellobioidea or as sub-families within the family Ellobiidae.
The family Ellobiidae consists of the following subfamilies (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005): subfamily Ellobiinae Pfeiffer, 1854 (1822) subfamily Carychiinae Jeffreys, 1830 subfamily Melampinae Stimpson, 1851 (1850) subfamily Pedipedinae P. Fischer & Crosse, 1880 subfamily Pythiinae Odhner, 1925 (1880) † subfamily Zaptychiinae Wenz, 1938
The high degree of homoplasy in morphological characters and frequent low variability has led to the description of approximately 800 species names available in the literature, of which 250 are likely to be valid.
A molecular study by Dayrat at al. (2011)Dayrat B., Conrad M., Balayan S., White T. R., Albrecht C., Golding R., Gomes S., Harasewych M. G., de Frias Martins A. M. (2011). "Phylogenetic relationships and evolution of pulmonate gastropods (Mollusca): new insights from increased taxon sampling". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 59: 425-437. . for the Ellobioidea suggests a monophyletic origin of the entire group.
Genera Genera within the family Ellobiidae include:
subfamily Ellobiinae † Auriculinella Tausch, 1886 Blauneria Shuttleworth, 1854 Ellobium Röding, 1798 † Eoellobium Harzhauser, Pacaud & Landau, 2023 Leucophytia Winckworth, 1949 † Palaeoellobium Merle, Néraudeau & Tafforeau, 2025
subfamily Carychiinae † Carychiella Strauch, 1977 † Carychiopsina Kadolsky, 2020 † Carychiopsis F. Sandberger, 1871 Carychium O. F. Müller, 1773 Coilostele W. H. Benson, 1864 Iberozospeum Jochum, Kneubühler, Prieto & Neubert, 2022 Koreozospeum Jochum & Prozorova, 2015 † Ovicarychium Kadolsky, 2020 † Turricarychium Kadolsky, 2020 Zospeum Bourguignat, 1856 † Zuella Kadolsky, 2020
subfamily Melampinae Melampus Montfort, 1810 Tralia J. E. Gray, 1840
subfamily Pedipedinae Creedonia Martins, 1996 Leuconopsis Hutton, 1884 Marinula King & Broderip, 1832 Microtralia Dall, 1894 Pedipes Férussac, 1821 Pseudomelampus Pallary, 1900 Sarnia H. Adams & A. Adams, 1855 † Sulcomarinula Sacco, 1897
subfamily Pythiinae Odhner, 1925 Allochroa Ancey, 1887 Auriculastra Martens, 1880 Cassidula Gray, 1847 Laemodonta Philippi, 1846 Myosotella Monterosato, 1906 Ophicardelus Beck, 1838 Ovatella Bivona, 1832 Pleuroloba Hyman, Rouse & Ponder, 2005 Pythia Röding, 1798 - type genus of the subfamily Pythiinae.
† subfamily Zaptychiinae † Zaptychius Walcott, 1883 - type genus of the subfamily
Genera brought into synonymy Alexia Leach in Gray, 1847: synonym of Myosotella Monterosato, 1906 Apodosis Pilsbry & McGinty, 1949 synonym of Leuconopsis F. W. Hutton, 1883 (junior subjective synonym) Auricula Lamarck, 1799: synonym of Ellobium Röding, 1798 Auriculodes Strand, 1928: synonym of Ellobium (Auriculodes) Strand, 1928 represented as Ellobium Röding, 1798 Auriculus Montfort, 1810 synonym of Ellobium Röding, 1798 (unjustified emendation of Auricula) Autonoe Guppy, 1868 synonym of Ellobium (Auriculodes) Strand, 1928 represented as Ellobium Röding, 1798 (junior homonym of Autonoe Leach, 1852 [Bivalvia]; Autonoella Wenz, 1947, is a replacement name) Cassidulus Beck, 1838 synonym of Cassidula A. Férussac, 1821 (Invalid: unjustified emendation of Cassidula Férussac, 1821, and also junior homonym of Cassidulus Lamarck, 1801 [Echinodermata]) Cremnobates Swainson, 1855: synonym of Marinula King & Broderip, 1832 Cylindrotis Möllendorff, 1895 synonym of Auriculastra E. von Martens, 1880 Detracia Gray in Turton, 1840: synonym of Melampus (Detracia) Gray, 1840 represented as Melampus Montfort, 1810 Geovula Swainson, 1840 synonym of Ellobium Röding, 1798 (junior objective synonym) Jaminia T. Brown, 1827: synonym of Myosotella Monterosato, 1906 Kochia Pallary, 1900: synonym of Myosotella Monterosato, 1906 Laimodonta H. Adams & A. Adams, 1855: synonym of Laemodonta Philippi, 1846 Leuconia Gray, 1840: synonym of Auriculinella Tausch, 1886 Leucopepla Peile, 1926: synonym of Auriculinella Tausch, 1886 Leucophytia Winckworth, 1949: synonym of Auriculinella Tausch, 1886 Maripythia Iredale, 1936: synonym of Marinula P. P. King, 1832 (unavailable name: no description) Melosidula B. J. Smith & Kershaw, 1979: synonym of Cassidula (Cassidula) A. Férussac, 1821 represented as Cassidula A. Férussac, 1821 (junior subjective synonym) Monica H. Adams & A. Adams, 1855: synonym of Ovatella Bivona-Bernardi, 1832 Nealexia Wenz, 1920: synonym of Myosotella Monterosato, 1906 Phytia: synonym of Pythia Röding, 1798 Pira H. & A. Adams, 1855: synonym of Melampus Montfort, 1810 Plecotrema H. Adams & A. Adams, 1854: synonym of Laemodonta Philippi, 1846 Rangitotoa Powell, 1933: synonym of Microtralia Dall, 1894 Rhodostoma Swainson, 1840: synonym of Cassidula A. Férussac, 1821 (junior subjective synonym) Sidula J. E. Gray, 1840: synonym of Cassidula A. Férussac, 1821 (junior subjective synonym) Tifata H. Adams & A. Adams, 1855: synonym of Melampus (Detracia) Gray, 1840 represented as Melampus Montfort, 1810 (junior subjective synonym) Volatela Starobogatov, 1993: synonym of Myosotella Monterosato, 1906
Taxonomic note Genus Sarnia H. Adams & A. Adams, 1855 (temporary name, Sarnia [H. & A. Adams, 1855 (September), The Genera of Recent Mollusca, 2: 239] is an incorrect subsequent spelling of Siona H. Adams & A. Adams, 1855 which is a junior homonym of Siona Duponchel, 1829 [Lepidoptera].)
Ecology The taxon Ellobioidea comprises a group of morphologically and ecologically highly diverse snails, known to have successfully invaded the marine, brackish water and terrestrial habitats.Weigand A. M., Jochum A., Slapnik R., Schnitzler J., Zarza E. & Klussmann-Kolb A. (2013). "Evolution of microgastropods (Ellobioidea, Carychiidae): integrating taxonomic, phylogenetic and evolutionary hypotheses". BMC Evolutionary Biology 13: 18.
These are mostly snails that live in salt marshes and similar maritime habitats, and thus have a tolerance for saline conditions.
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