Home Acknowledgments Conventions Glossary Maps References Links Articles Thumbnails Species list Next order	Thecosomata The order Thecosomata includes specialized holoplanktonic or pelagic species that use broad, flat epipodia for swimming. Most are small and are seldom seen near shore. However, the shells of shell-bearing species are frequently found in sand and some may be very numerous in off-shore sediment samples. They are most active at night and feed by entangling other plankton in a mucous web. At least three families are known from Hawaii. The Limacinidae and Cavolinidae, in the suborder Euthecosomata, have shells. The Cymbuliidae, in the suborder Pseudothecosomata, lack shells. Recently, some sources have recombined them with the Gymnosomata under the Pteropoda (known as "sea butterflies"). In addition to the families listed below, Peraclis reticulata (d'Orbigny, 1836) in the Peraclididae (a family in the Pseudothecosomata with sculptured, sinistral shells) has been recorded from the North Pacific near Hawaii based on the range maps in Pelagic Molluscs. Limacinidae Cavolinidae Cymbuliidae
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