Three different spellings (Haminoea, Haminea, Haminaea) were used for this genus over two hundred years. The ICZN finally made a decision that the correct spelling is Haminoea.[2]
Oskars et al. (2019) restricted Haminoea to species from the Atlantic and eastern Pacific, and resurrected Haloa and Lamprohaminoea for Indo-Pacific species.[3]
Description
Many species within this genus have green algae growing on their shells. The posterior tip of the headshield is bilobed, except in Haminoea elegans.
Haminoea antillarum guadaloupensis Sowerby II, 1868 - Distribution : Florida, Cuba, Guadeloupe, Length: 12–18 mm, Description: globose shell with greenish yellow color, covered with longitudinal striae (= stripes); mantle with white to greenish background with small black dots.
Description : translucent with green color (caused by growths of green algae), mottled with lightbrown spots, outlined in white, and darker brown dots; There can be a wide variation in the color pattern. This species is fairly uncommon, but, when found, it is always in large aggregations.
Distribution : West Africa, Florida, Caribbean, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil
Length : 23.5 mm
Description : found at depths up to 34 m; translucent mantle with patches of brown and black; posterior end of the headshield is not bilobed; shell with spiral grooves.
Distribution : SW Britain, Ireland, France and south to the Mediterranean, Madeira and Canaries; Ascension Island, St. Helena, west coast of Africa
Length : 8–30 mm (shell : 15 mm)
Description : fragile shell hidden by the mantle and parapodial lobes in crawling animals. Herbivorous swimming dark brown snail found on muddy sands, shell grit and algae fields, down to unknown depths.
Haminoea navicula da Costa, 1778 - Distribution: SW Britain, south to the Mediterranean, Ascension Island, St. Helena; Atlantic and Mediterranean costas of France and Spain; Black Sea, Length: up to 70 mm (shell: 32 mm), Description: larger species, with heavier and darker-white shell; cephalic shield with short tentacular processes at front. Found on muddy sands especially among Eelgrass, Zostera marina. Does not swim. This species is able to change its color to correspond with its environment. The color pigments (or melanophores) in the skin can be obscured. The skin color can change in this way from dark brown to white in four to five hours. (Edlinger, Malacologia 22; 1982)
Haminoea vesicula A. A. Gould, 1855 Blister Glassy-bubble, White Paper-bubble, Gould’s Paper-bubble
Distribution : West America, Alaska, Gulf of California, Mexico
Length : 19 mm
Description : common on muddy flats and on eelgrass; the middle posterior part of the cephalic shield has an indent; brown or greenish-yellowy shell; large, barrel-shaped body whorl covered by a rust periostracum; involute (= sunken) spire; long aperture; outer lip gradually increasing in width; the snail cannot retract completely into its shell.
Haminoea virescens Sowerby, 1833 Green Glassy-bubble, Green Paper-bubble, Sowerby’s Paper-bubble
Distribution : Northwestern America from Puget Sound (Seattle) to Gulf of California.
Length : 13–19 mm
Description : Thin, fragile shell is ovate and yellowish-green; involute (= sunken) spire, with small perforation; body whorl with longitudinal growth ridges and minute grooves; large aperture; thin outer lip
Description : very common; translucent snail with variable coloring, going from pale color with black dots, to a uniform black color; broad headshield; parapodia fold up and envelop most of the shell; thin, ovate translucent shell.
Species brought into synonymy
Haminoea alfredensis P. Bartsch, 1915: synonym of Haminoea natalensis (Krauss, 1848) (probable synonym)
Haminoea angelensis F. Baker & G. D. Hanna, 1927 - Distribution: Gulf of California, Mexico, Length: 7 mm: synonym of Haminoea vesicula (A. Gould, 1855)
Haminoea callidegenita (Gibson & Chia, 1989):synonym of Haminoea japonica Pilsbry, 1895 Distribution: West America, Description: has a deeply bifurcate headshield.
Haminoea cornea (Lamarck, 1822):synonym of Haminoea navicula (da Costa, 1778)
Haminoea crocata Pease, 1860:synonym of Haloa crocata (Pease, 1860)
Haminoea curta A. Adams, 1850: synonym of Liloa curta (A. Adams, 1850)
^Oskars, T. R. and M. A. E. Malaquias. 2019. A molecular phylogeny of the Indo-West Pacific species of Haloa sensu lato gastropods (Cephalaspidea: Haminoeidae): Tethyan vicariance, generic diversity, and ecological specialization. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 139.
Pownall G. (1979). New Zealand Shells and Shellfish. Seven Seas Publishing Pty Ltd, Wellington, New Zealand 1979 ISBN0-85467-054-8
Vaught, K.C. (1989). A classification of the living Mollusca. American Malacologists: Melbourne, FL (USA). ISBN0-915826-22-4. XII, 195 pp.
Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 180–213
Gofas, S.; Afonso, J.P.; Brandào, M. (Ed.). (S.a.). Conchas e Moluscos de Angola = Coquillages et Mollusques d'Angola. [Shells and molluscs of Angola]. Universidade Agostinho / Elf Aquitaine Angola: Angola. 140 pp.
Willan, R. (2009). Opisthobranchia (Mollusca). In: Gordon, D. (Ed.) (2009). New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity. Volume One: Kingdom Animalia. 584 pp
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