Melampus bidentatus

Melampus bidentatus common name the "common marsh snail", or "eastern melampus", is a species of small, amphibious air-breathing snail, a pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Ellobiidae.

Melampus bidentatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Eupulmonata
Superfamily:
Ellobioidea
Family:
Ellobiidae
Subfamily:
Melampinae
Genus:
Melampus
Subgenus:
Micromelampus
Species:
M. bidentatus
Binomial name
Melampus bidentatus
Say, 1822

Description

The maximum recorded shell length is 20 mm.[1]

Habitat and distribution

The minimum recorded depth for his species is 0 m; maximum recorded depth is 0 m.[1] Like many others in the same family, this species of snail inhabits the high marsh zone of salt marshes, but it is also very common in the mud near oyster reefs. The native range of the snail is from the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, to the Texas coast of the Gulf of Mexico. However, it is likely that this distribution involves at least three cryptic species with distinct physiological optima.[2]

Adults of Melampus bidentatus can survive in a terrestrial environment, but its larvae require an aquatic habitat in order to survive.

The diet of this species consists of the decayed shoots of smooth cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora.[3]

References
  1. Welch J. J. (2010). "The "Island Rule" and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". PLoS ONE 5(1): e8776. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008776.
  2. Dennis, A.B. and M. E. Hellberg. 2010. Ecological partitioning among parapatric cryptic species. Molecular Ecology 19:3206-3225.
  3. Weinstein M. P. & Kreeger D. A.. "Concepts and controversies in tidal marsh ecology". p. 173


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