Monoplacophora

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Class of molluscs

title: "Monoplacophora" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["monoplacophora", "extant-cambrian-first-appearances", "conchifera"] description: "Class of molluscs" topic_path: "general/monoplacophora" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoplacophora" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Class of molluscs ::

| image = Neopilina.jpg | image_caption = The holotype of Neopilina galatheae at the Zoological Museum, Copenhagen | fossil_range = | taxon = Monoplacophora | authority = Odhner, 1940 | subdivision_ranks = | subdivision = thumb|Shell of Monoplacophora Monoplacophora , meaning "bearing one plate", is a polyphyletic class of molluscs with a cap-like shell, inhabiting deep sea environments. 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.

Although the shell of many monoplacophorans is limpet-like in shape, they are not gastropods, nor do they have any close relation to gastropods.

Definition

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. The inclusion of the gastropod-like Bellerophontoidea within the group is also contentious.

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.

Taxonomy

::callout[type=note] For a taxonomy of living monoplacophoran species, see Tryblidiida. ::

Taxonomy of Monoplacophora per Bouchet, et al. (2017):

Class Monoplacophora

Anatomy and physiology

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Monoplacophora.svg" caption="Internal anatomy of ''[[Micropilina]]''. The head region is on the left by the mouth."] ::

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 m. Cambrian forms predominately lived in shallow seas, whereas later Paleozoic forms are more commonly found in deeper waters with soft, muddy sea floors.

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.

The repeated organs include from three to six pairs of "gills" (actually ctenidia) located in a curved line along each side of the foot (though the number is not always considered definitive of a given species), and as many as six "kidneys" (actually nephridia). The tip or point of their low shells points forward rather than towards the back. The shell ranges from 3 mm to 37 mm in diameter depending on species. Like in chitons, the head is poorly defined, and there are no eyes. The mouth is located within the animal's undeveloped head in front of its single large foot and contains a radula, a defining characteristic of the mollusca. Tentacles are situated behind the mouth. They also have a cone-shaped stomach with a single crystalline style though no gastric shield. The intestines are long and make between four and six loops before reaching the posteriorly-positioned anus. Monoplacophorans also have oesophageal pouches.

The sexes are separate with any given animal having two pairs of either ovaries or testes connected to either the third or fourth pair of kidneys. One genus, Micropilina, has apparently been recorded as brooding young in the distal oviduct and pallial groove, releasing the young when approximately 300 micrometers in diameter.

Phylogenetic position

In 2006 a molecular study on Laevipilina antarctica suggested that extant Monoplacophora and Polyplacophora form a well-supported clade with the researched Neopilina closest to the chitons. The two classes in this new clade, with the proposed name Serialia, all show a variable number of serially repeated gills and eight sets of dorsoventral pedal retractor muscles.

This study contradicts the fossil evidence, which suggests that the Monoplacophora are the sister group to the remainder of the conchiferans, and that the cephalopods (squids, octopuses, and relatives) arose from within the monoplacophoran lineage. However, some authors dispute this view and do not necessarily see modern Monoplacophora as related to their presumed fossil ancestors.

The concept of Serialia is supported by other molecular studies.

The fossil record does indicate that the ancestral mollusc was monoplacophoran-like and that the Polyplacophora arose from within the Monoplacophora – not the other way around. This could be reconciled if a secondary loss of shells caused a monoplacophoran body form to re-appear secondarily, which is plausible: At the very least, modern monoplacophorans are not closely related to vent-dwelling representatives from the Silurian.

Cambrian monoplacophoran Knightoconus antarcticus is hypothesised to be an ancestor to the cephalopods.

Fossil species

Living families:

Extinct families:

The Taxonomy of the Gastropoda (Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005){{refn|name="Bouchet"| reprinted from Bouchet & Rocroi (2005a) also contains Paleozoic molluscs of uncertain systematic position. It is not known whether these were gastropods or monoplacophorans.

References

References

  1. (1990). "A fossil Cenozoic monoplacophoran". Lethaia.
  2. (2009). "Monoplacophorans and the origin and relationships of mollusks". Evolution: Education and Outreach.
  3. (2001). "Latest helcionelloid molluscs from the Lower Ordovician of Kazakhstan". Palaeontology.
  4. Bouchet, Philippe & Jean-Pierre Rocroi, et al. (2017) Revised Classification, Nomenclator and Typification of Gastropod and Monoplacophoran Families. ''Malacologia'', 2017, 61(1–2): 1–526. {{doi. 10.4002/040.061.0201
  5. (2006). "The Mollusks: A guide to their study, collection, and preservation". Universal.
  6. (May 2006). "Evidence for a clade composed of molluscs with serially repeated structures: Monoplacophorans are related to chitons". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
  7. Scheltema, A.H.. (1 February 1993). "''Aplacophora'' as progenetic ''Aculiferans'' and the ''Coelomate'' origin of mollusks as the sister taxon of ''Sipuncula''". The Biological Bulletin.
  8. Haszprunar, G.. (2000). "[no title cited]". Am. Malacol. Bull.
  9. (1996). "Origin and Evolutionary Radiation of the Mollusca". Oxford University Press.
  10. (1988). "Palaeontology and Neontology of Cephalopods". Academic Press.
  11. (2000). "A critical re-appraisal of the fossil record of the bilaterian phyla". Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society.
  12. (2010). "Assessing the molluscan hypothesis Serialia (Monoplacophora+Polyplacophora) using novel molecular data.". Molecular Phylogenetics & Evolution.
  13. (October 1974). "Molluscan phylogeny: The paleontological viewpoint". Science.
  14. (2003). "Are hydrothermal vent animals living fossils?". Trends in Ecology & Evolution.
  15. (2005a). "Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families". Institute of Malacology.

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