Gigantopelta aegis

Gigantopelta aegis is a species of deep sea snail from hydrothermal vents, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Peltospiridae.^[1]

Gigantopelta aegis
Aggregation of Gigantopelta aegis with other animals, such as scaly-foot gastropods (black snails).
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Neomphaliones
Order:	Neomphalida
Family:	Peltospiridae
Genus:	Gigantopelta
Species:	G. aegis
Binomial name
Gigantopelta aegis Chen, Linse, Roterman, Copley & Rogers, 2015[1]

Taxonomy

It was described as a new species within new genus Gigantopelta in 2015 and it was classified within the family Peltospiridae.^[1]

Distribution

This species is known from its type locality only: Longqi hydrothermal vent field in Southwest Indian Ridge, 37°47.03′S 49°38.96′E.^[1]

Description

The width of the shell is 4.84–44.83 mm.^[1] Valeues of δ¹³C were −26.42‰ ± 0.67.^[2] A distinguishing factor of the Gigantopelta aegis is their large size, hence the name, which translates to “gigantic shield” in Latin.^[3] While other peltospirids reach shell diameter sizes of 15mm on average, the Gigantopelta aegis can grow up to 45.7 mm.^[3] The shell is also thickly coated with a layer of sulphide. However, this is typical of other vent-dwelling gastropods. Another distinguishing factor for the Gigantopelta species is that sexual dimorphism is not exhibited, as seen in other peltopsirids.^[3]