Philine Ascanius, 1772

Valdés, Ángel, Cadien, Donald B. & Gosliner, Terrence M., 2016, Philinidae, Laonidae and Philinorbidae (Gastropoda: Cephalaspidea: Philinoidea) from the northeastern Pacific Ocean and the Beaufort Sea (Arctic Ocean), Zootaxa 4147 (5), pp. 501-537 : 508-509

Genus Philine Ascanius, 1772 sensu lato

Philine Ascanius 1772: 331 . Type species (by monotypy): Bulla aperta Linnaeus, 1767 . South Africa.

Lobaria Müller 1776 : xxix, 226. Type species (by monotypy): Lobaria quadriloba Müller, 1776 [= Philine aperta (Linnaeus, 1767) ]. Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.

Bullaea Lamarck 1801: 63 . Type species (by monotypy): Philine planciana Lamarck, 1801 [= Philine aperta (Linnaeus, 1767) ]. Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.

? Hermania Monterosato 1884: 147 . Type species (by monotypy): Bulla scabra Müller, 1784 . Norway.

? Yokoyamaia Habe 1950: 50 . Type species (by original designation): Philine ornatissima Yokoyama, 1927 . Japan.

Choshiphiline Habe 1958: 120. Type species (by monotypy): Philine pygmaea Yokoyama, 1922 [= Philine japonica Lischke, 1872 . Japan.

Globophiline Habe 1958: 120 . Type species (by monotypy): Globophiline kawamurai Habe, 1958 . Japan.

Philingwynia Nordsieck 1972: 22. Type species (by original designation): Philine monterosati Jeffreys in Monterosato, 1874 . Mediterranean.

Retusophiline Nordsieck 1972: 20 . Type species (by original designation): Philine lima Brown, 1827 . British Isles.

? Praephiline Chaban & Soldatenko 2009: 206 . Type species (by original designation): Philine finmarchica M. Sars, 1858 . North Atlantic and adjacent Arctic Ocean.

Diagnosis. Shell internal, thin and fragile, ovate to subquadrate; sculpture absent or of spiral striae or punctuations; only one whorl visible; spire sunken; aperture very large; columella simple, reduced. Live animals usually white, headshield occupying between 1/2–2/3 of body length; parapodial lobes reduced; posterior shield normally with a median notch; radula with 1–3 lateral teeth, sometimes denticulate; gizzard plates present or absent; reproductive system monaulic, with long prostate; penis unarmed.

Remarks. Species treated here under Philine sensu lato display considerable morphological variation in radular, gizzard and shell morphology as well as reproductive anatomy. Because of this variability, some authors have recognized several distinct genera in Philinidae (e.g., Okutani 2000, Higo et al., 1999, 2001, Chaban & Soldatenko 2009, Chaban 2014, Chaban & Chernyshev 2014). Molecular evidence substantiated the removal of Laona and Philinorbis from Philinidae ( Oskars et al. 2015) , but there are no available phylogenies to evaluate the validity of other proposed Philinidae genera. Thus, species with different morphologies, including animals with and without gizzard plates, are here provisionally treated as Philine sensu lato, until the taxonomy and phylogeny of this group are resolved. For example, Chaban (2014) and Chaban et al. (2015) provided morphological evidence supporting the validity of Yokoyamia and Hermania respectively, as distinct from Philine sensu stricto, but because of the difficulties in defining other genera in Philinidae , we prefer to maintain Yokoyamia and Hermania as possible synonyms of Philine sensu lato pending a comprehensive review of the group.