Gyraulus albus
Encyclopedia
Gyraulus albus is a small species
of freshwater snail
, an aquatic
pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Planorbidae
, the ram's horn snails.
:
.
. This aperture and the whorls are curved and do not have a keel.
The shell of this species is white (sometimes darkened by mud deposits) and has a characteristic spiral sculpture.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of freshwater snail
Freshwater snail
A freshwater snail is one kind of freshwater mollusc, the other kind being freshwater clams and mussels, i.e. freshwater bivalves. Specifically a freshwater snail is a gastropod that lives in a watery non-marine habitat. The majority of freshwater gastropods have a shell, with very few exceptions....
, an 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...
pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Planorbidae
Planorbidae
Planorbidae, common name the ramshorn snails or ram's horn snails, is a family of air-breathing freshwater snails, aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusks....
, the ram's horn snails.
Distribution
PalearcticPalearctic
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is one of the eight ecozones dividing the Earth's surface.Physically, the Palearctic is the largest ecozone...
:
- Czech Republic - least concern (LC)
- Germany
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Slovakia
- Great Britain
- Ireland
Habitat
This small snail lives in various types of freshwater habitats among weed and on bottom mud. It doesn't require a high level of calciumCalcium
Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth-most-abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust...
.
Description
The shell of this species is rather small, reaching a height of 1.3 - 1.8 mm and a width of 4 - 7 mm. This shell has a discoid shape with 4 - 4½ body whorls that expand in the direction of the apertureAperture (mollusc)
The aperture is an opening in certain kinds of mollusc shells: it is the main opening of the shell, where part of the body of the animal emerges for locomotion, feeding, etc....
. This aperture and the whorls are curved and do not have a keel.
The shell of this species is white (sometimes darkened by mud deposits) and has a characteristic spiral sculpture.
Further reading
- V. Pfleger & June Chatfield, A guide to the snails of Britain and Europe; Hamlyn Publishing Group, London, 1988; ISBN 0 600 55127 X