Aphaostracon
Encyclopedia
Aphaostracon is a genus
of very small or minute freshwater
and brackish water
snail
s that have an operculum
, aquatic
operculate gastropod mollusks in the family Hydrobiidae
.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of very small or minute freshwater
Freshwater
Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...
and brackish water
Brackish water
Brackish water is water that has more salinity than fresh water, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing of seawater with fresh water, as in estuaries, or it may occur in brackish fossil aquifers. The word comes from the Middle Dutch root "brak," meaning "salty"...
snail
Snail
Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...
s that have an operculum
Operculum (gastropod)
The operculum, meaning little lid, is a corneous or calcareous anatomical structure which exists in many groups of sea snails and freshwater snails, and also in a few groups of land snails...
, aquatic
Aquatic animal
An aquatic animal is an animal, either vertebrate or invertebrate, which lives in water for most or all of its life. It may breathe air or extract its oxygen from that dissolved in water through specialised organs called gills, or directly through its skin. Natural environments and the animals that...
operculate gastropod mollusks in the family Hydrobiidae
Hydrobiidae
Hydrobiidae, common name mud snails, is a large cosmopolitan taxonomic family of very small freshwater snails and brackish water snails that have an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the clade Littorinimorpha.- Distribution :...
.
Species
This genus includes the following species:- Blue spring aphaostraconBlue spring aphaostraconThe Blue Spring aphaostracon or Blue Spring hydrobe, scientific name Aphaostracon asthenes, is a species of minute freshwater snail with a gill and an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Hydrobiidae. This species is endemic to the United States.-References:* Bogan, A.E. 1996. . ...
, Aphaostracon asthenes - Wekiwa hydrobeWekiwa hydrobeThe wekiwa hydrobe or wekiwa springs aphaostracon is a species of gastropod in the Hydrobiidae family. It is endemic to the United States. Its natural habitat is rivers. It is threatened by habitat loss.-Source:...
, Aphaostracon monas - Dense hydrobeDense hydrobeThe dense hydrobe, scientific name Aphaostracon pycnum, is a species of small freshwater snails with a gill and an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Hydrobiidae. This species it is endemic to the United States.-References:...
, Aphaostracon pycnum - Fenney spring hydrobeFenney spring hydrobeThe Fenney Spring hydrobe. scientific name Aphaostracon xynoelictum, is a species of very small freshwater snails that have an operculum, aquatic operculate gastropod mollusks in the family Hydrobiidae....
, Aphaostracon xynoelictum