Marstonia scalariformis

Marstonia scalariformis, previously known as Pyrgulopsis scalariformis, common name the moss pyrg, is a species of freshwater snail with a gill and an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Hydrobiidae.

Marstonia scalariformis
Drawing of apertural view of the shell of Marstonia scalariformis.
NE[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Phylum:
Class:
(unranked):
Superfamily:
Family:
Subfamily:
Nymphophilinae
Genus:
Species:
M. scalariformis
Binomial name
Marstonia scalariformis
(Wolf, 1869)[2]
Synonyms

Pyrgula scalariformis Wolf, 1869
Pyrgulopsis scalariformis (Wolf, 1869)
Pyrgula scalariformis var. mississippiensis Pilsbry, 1886
Pyrgulopsis mississippiensis Pilsbry, 1886

Shell description

The shell is turreted, slender. The shell has 6 whorls. The shell is chalky white in color. The suture is deeply impressed. The shell is carinate in its entire length on the lower edge of the whorls.[3]

The aperture is small, ovate, but slightly connected with the last whorl.[3]

The height of the shell is 12.7 mm (½ inch).[3]

Anatomy

The body of the animal is white.[4]

Distribution

Distribution of Marstonia scalariformis include Illinois,[5] Alabama,[6] Iowa and Missouri.[7]

This species was abundant on its type locality on the Tazewell shore of the Illinois River in 1880s.[3]

Conservation

This species is critically imperiled.[7]

References

This article incorporates public domain text from reference.[3]

  1. IUCN 2009. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 24 July 2009.
  2. Wolf (1869). Am. Jour. Conch. 5: p. 198, plate xvii, figure 3.
  3. Call R. E. & Pilsbry H. A. 1886. On Pyrgulopsis, a new genus of rissoid mollusk, with description of two new forms. Proceeding Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, volume V., page 9-14. Plate II., figure 13.
  4. Hershler R. 1994. A review of the North American freshwater snail genus Pyrgulopsis (Hydrobiidae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, 554: 1–115, pp. 80–81.
  5. Aquatic Mollusca of Illinois, accessed 24 July 2009.
  6. Alabama State List of Endangered Mollusks, accessed 24 July 2009.
  7. Marstonia scalariformis NatureServe, Last updated 6 February 2009, accessed 24 July 2009.
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