Shinkailepas kaikatensis
Encyclopedia
Shinkailepas kaikatensis is a species
of sea snail
, a false limpet
, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family
Phenacolepadidae
.
at the East Diamante seamount, which is westsouthwest of the small island of Farallon de Medinilla
in the Southern Seamount Province of the Mariana Islands
. The hydrothermal vent at East Diamante is "shallower than 200 m (650 ft)" according to the NOAA description. The white dots on the rocks and on the limpet shells in this image are the egg capsules of the species.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of sea snail
Sea snail
Sea snail is a common name for those snails that normally live in saltwater, marine gastropod molluscs....
, a false limpet
Limpet
Limpet is a common name for a number of different kinds of saltwater and freshwater snails ; it is applied to those snails that have a simple shell which is more or less conical in shape, and either is not spirally coiled, or appears not to be coiled in the adult snails.The name limpet is most...
, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Phenacolepadidae
Phenacolepadidae
Phenacolepadidae is a family of small sea snails or false limpets, marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Cycloneritimorpha ....
.
Description
The individuals in the NOAA image are adults of 2 cm (0.75 in) living on rock surfaces at a hydrothermal ventHydrothermal vent
A hydrothermal vent is a fissure in a planet's surface from which geothermally heated water issues. Hydrothermal vents are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart, ocean basins, and hotspots. Hydrothermal vents exist because the earth is both...
at the East Diamante seamount, which is westsouthwest of the small island of Farallon de Medinilla
Farallon de Medinilla
Farallon de Medinilla is a small island in the Northern Mariana Islands chain and is situated north of Saipan. It is the second smallest in the chain; only Zealandia Bank is smaller. It is an uninhabited coral island which is 0.845 km² in area. It is 2.8 km long from southwest to...
in the Southern Seamount Province of the Mariana Islands
Mariana Islands
The Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...
. The hydrothermal vent at East Diamante is "shallower than 200 m (650 ft)" according to the NOAA description. The white dots on the rocks and on the limpet shells in this image are the egg capsules of the species.