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Athoracophoridae
	Two individuals of Triboniophorus graeffei
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Order:	Stylommatophora
Superfamily:	Athoracophoroidea; P. Fischer, 1883 (1860)
Family:	Athoracophoridae; P. Fischer, 1883 (1860)
Subfamilies
	Athoracophorinae P. Fischer, 1883 (1860); Aneitinae Gray, 1860;

Athoracophoridae, common name the leaf-veined slugs, are a family of air-breathing land slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the infraorder Stylommatophora, the stalk-eyed snails and slugs. Many of the species have an attractive pattern on their dorsal surface which resembles the veins in a leaf, hence the common name.

Athoracophoridae is the only family in the superfamily Athoracophoroidea.^[2]

Leaf-veined slugs live on the various land masses and islands in the south-west Pacific area. In te reo Māori, leaf-veined slugs are known as putoko ropiropi.^[3]

The scientific name Athoracophoridae is derived from prefix "a-", that means "without" and from a Greek word "θωραχοφὁρος" (thorachoforos), that means "breastplate".^[1] This is a reference to the fact that the mantle in these slugs is small and not well delineated; it does not have the obvious, saddle-shaped or breast-plate-shaped appearance that it does in most other land slug groups.

Anatomy

In the family Athoracophoridae (in subfamily Aneitinae and in subfamily Athoracophorinae), the number of haploid chromosomes lies between 36 and 45 (according to the values in this table).^[4] While they belong to the pulmonate snails, they lack a true lung. The vascularized mantle cavity is reduced, and a series of blind tubules radiate from it, being surrounded blood vessels. This allows for a more compact lung structure in these generally flat animals.^[5]

Distribution

Species in this family are found in eastern Australia, New Zealand including its sub-Antarctic islands, Bismarck Archipelago, the Admiralty Islands, the New Hebrides, New Caledonia,^[6] as well as on the Melanesian islands north to New Caledonia and New Britain, Papua New Guinea.

Taxonomy

The following two subfamilies have been recognized in the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005),^[2] that follows classification after Grimpe & Hoffmann (1925):^[7]

Athoracophorinae P. Fischer, 1883 (1860) - synonym: Janellidae Gray, 1853 (inv.) - a subantarctic subfamily^[6]
Aneitinae Gray, 1860 - a northern subfamily^[6]

The name Athoracophoridae has precedence over the name Aneitidae, because Athoracophoridae is in prevailing usage.^[2]

Genera

Genera within the family Athoracophoridae include:^[8]

Aneitea Gray, 1860
- Aneitea sarasini
Athoracophorus Gould, 1852 - the type genus, 3 species
Palliopodex Burton, 1963 - with the only species Palliopodex verrucosus (Simroth, 1889)
Pseudaneitea Cockerell, 1891
Reflectopallium Burton, 1963
Triboniophorus Humbert, 1863

References

^ ^a ^b ^c (in French) Fischer P. (21 February 1883). Manuel de conchlyliologie et de paléontologie conchlyliologique (5): 417-512. Savy, Paris. page 492.
^ ^a ^b ^c Bouchet, Philippe; Rocroi, Jean-Pierre; Frýda, Jiri; Hausdorf, Bernard; Ponder, Winston; Valdés, Ángel & Warén, Anders (2005). "Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families". Malacologia. 47 (1–2). Hackenheim, Germany: ConchBooks: 1–397. ISBN 3-925919-72-4. ISSN 0076-2997.
^ Ryan, Paddy (24 Sep 2007). "Snails and slugs - Flax snails, giant snails and veined slugs". Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
^ 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, ISBN 0-85199-318-4. 1-146, cited pages: 139 and 142.
^ Burton, W.D. (1982). "How to be sluggish". Tuatara. 25 (2): 48–63. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c Burton D. W. (1982). "How to be sluggish." Tuatara 25(2): 48-63. page 55.
^ (in German) Grimpe G. & Hoffmann (1925). "Die Nacktschnecken von Neu-Caledonien, den Loyalty-Inseln und den Neuen-Hebriden." In: Sarasin F. & Roux J. (eds.) Nova Caledonia, A (Zoologie), Band 3, Heft 1-3: 337-476, plates 5-6.
^ Powell A. W. B. (1979). New Zealand Mollusca, William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand, ISBN 0-00-216906-1