Avril,

My best guess is that Stylommatophora is composed of styl- (Greek "pillar,
column") + ommat- (Greek ommation, "little eye", diminutive of omma "eye")
+ phor- (Greek "bear, carry"). The (meaningless) connecting vowel between
Greek roots, inserted to make pronunciation easier, is usually -o- (-i- in
Latin). Does this snail have a little eye on the end of a stalk?

Then Basommatophora would carry its eye at the base of the stalk. Does that
make sense biologically? I'm translating "blind", without knowing what the
animals look like.

Andrew K. Rindsberg
Geological Survey of Alabama