Pteropoda are specialized free-swimming pelagic sea snails and sea slugs, marine opisthobranch gastropods. Most live in top 10 m of the ocean and are less than 1 cm long. The monophyly of Pteropoda is the subject of a lengthy debate; they have even been considered as paraphyletic with respect to cephalopods.
What does the word Pteropod mean?
: any of the opisthobranch mollusks comprising two orders (Thecosomata and Gymnosomata) and having the anterior lobes of the foot expanded into broad thin winglike swimming organs.
Is a Pteropod a producer?
Planktic foraminifera and pteropods are the major zooplankton producers of CaCO3 and a key component of the ocean carbon cycle (Guinotte and Fabry, 2008). Besides coccolithophores (unicellular phytoplankton), they have an important role in exporting carbon from the surface to the deep ocean.
