Kingdom Animalia Class Gastropoda Rank Subfamily | Phylum Mollusca Superfamily Fissurelloidea | |
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Similar Fissurella picta, Fissurella, Lucapinella, Fissurella costata, Rimula | ||
The subfamily Fissurellinae, common name the keyhole limpets and slit limpets, is a taxonomic subfamily of limpet-like sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Fissurellidae.
Of the three subfamilies in the Fissurellidae, the subfamily Fissurellinae is the most recently evolved; its earliest known species date back to the Cenozoic.
The following genera in this subfamily have characteristically a body that tends to be larger than the shell.
They have sometimes been confused with genera in the emarginuline tribe Fissurellideini.
Other genera include : Altrix - Clathrosepta - Cornisepta - Cosmetalepas - Dendrofissurella - Elegidion (synonym of Diodora J. E. Gray, 1821) - Fissurella - Laevinesta - Lucapina - Macroschisma - Manganesepta - Montfortula - Montfortulana - Parmaphoridea - Parmophoridea - Profundisepta
The characteristics that distinguish them from the subfamily Emarginulidae are the following :
A molecular phylogeny however has shown that Fissurellinae (Diodora and Fissurella were examined) is paraphyletic with respect to Emarginulinae. This is somewhat surprising as the subfamily Emarginulinae (shells with an open slit) is generally accepted to be basal to the subfamily Fissurellinae (shells with an apical opening)