Monoplacophorans: Monoplacophora

MONOPLACOPHORANS IN THE FLESH

Monoplacophorans were once only known from fossils. These stone impressions preserved only the details of the hard valves of these ancient species, not their soft bodies. In 1952, a Danish expedition named "Galathea" dredged up ten living specimens from the deep waters off the Pacific coast of Mexico. Their never-seen-before fleshy bodies revealed the similarities of monoplacophorans to chitons and snails. The new species was given the name Neopilina galathea. Neopilina comes from the Greek neos, or new, and pilion, or little cap.