Monoplacophora
Monoplacophora /ˌmɒnoʊpləˈkɒfərə/, meaning "bearing one plate", is a polyphyletic superclass of molluscs with a cap-like shell now living at the bottom of the deep sea. Extant representatives were not recognized as such until 1952; previously they were known only from the fossil record, and were thought to have become extinct 375 million years ago.[2]
Although the shell of many monoplacophorans is limpet-like in shape, they are not gastropods, nor do they have any close relation to gastropods.[1]
Discussion about monoplacophorans is made difficult by the slippery definition of the taxon; some authors take it to refer to all non-gastropod molluscs with a single shell, or all single-shelled molluscs with serially repeated units; whereas other workers restrict the definition to cap-shaped forms, excluding spiral and other shapes of shell.[2] The inclusion of the gastropod-like Bellerophontoidea within the group is also contentious.[3]
One attempt to resolve this confusion was to separate out the predominantly coiled helcionelloids from the traditional, cap-like tergomyans, this latter group containing extant Tryblidiids.[3]
Monoplacophorans are univalved (though not gastropodal), limpet-shaped, and are untorted. They have a pseudometamerism of bilaterally symmetrical repeated organs and muscles. The extant members of the class live only in the deep ocean (the abyssal zone, the continental shelf, and the continental slope) at depths below 180 metres (590 ft). Cambrian forms predominately lived in shallow seas, whereas later Paleozoic forms are more commonly found in deeper waters with soft, muddy sea floors.[2]
Although superficially resembling limpets when viewed dorsally, monoplacophorans are not anatomically similar to gastropods. Some similarities are shared with the chitons, such as having segmented anatomy (organs arranged in series). There are eight pairs of dorso-ventral muscles (shell muscles). The nervous system is relatively simple, with no true ganglion present.
