Desmoulin's whorl snail
Encyclopedia
Desmoulin's whorl snail, scientific name Vertigo moulinsiana, is a species
of minute air-breathing land snail
, a terrestrial
pulmonate gastropod mollusc or micromollusc
in the family Vertiginidae
, the vertigo snails.
This species was named after the early 19th century French naturalist, Charles des Moulins
.
es and swamp
s.
Desmoulin's whorl snail lives in calcareous wetlands, where there are tall sedge
s, saw-sedge (Cladium mariscus
), reed-grass (Glyceria maxima
) or the reed Phragmites australis.
Ocean), and southern-European.
This small snail occurs across Europe
as far north as southern Sweden.
Within Western Europe
, only the populations in England (Great Britain) and Ireland are considered to be viable, although further populations exist in the Czech Republic (critically endangered, occupying White Carpathians Biospehere Reserve, Kokořínsko Landscape Protected Area and Southern Moravia), in Poland (critically endangered) and elsewhere in Europe (for example: Netherlands, France). Its conservation status in the Czech Republic in 2004-2006 is favourable (FV) in the report for the European Commission
in accordance with the Habitats Directive. Its conservation status in Spain is endangered and it occurs in two localities only: near Estañá lake and near Lake of Banyoles
.
Distribution of other European countries include Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Its distribution also include Algeria and Morocco.
This species is mentioned in Annex II of the European Union's
Habitats Directive.
is dextral, minute, ovate, ventricose, obtuse at apex
, smoothish, subperforate. Aperture
is semiovate, 4-toothed: 1 tooth on the parietal wall, another on the columella, and two palatals, the lower one longer. The shell has 4 whorls
, parted by a distinct suture, the last doubly larger than all the others together. Rather solid, glossy, subpellucid and of a uniform fulvous color.
The shell of this species reaches about 3 mm tall. The shell is yellowish or brownish and translucent.
, Desmoulin's whorl snail is listed as endangered, although it occurs in a number of areas in a band from Norfolk
to Dorset
, with outlying populations in Kent
and the Llŷn Peninsula
in North Wales
and has probably been under-reported in the past because of its minute size. Its presence on the site of the planned Newbury bypass
caused the building of that road to be postponed; the building works were able to go ahead once the snails had been moved to a new habitat nearby. It is reported to have since died out at the new site, but the same report states "Desmoulin's whorl snail is now considered less scarce than it was 10 years ago".
featured V. moulinsiana on a 2002 German
€
0.51 postage stamp
as part of a series on endangered species
of animals.
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 minute air-breathing land snail
Land snail
A land snail is any of the many species of snail that live on land, as opposed to those that live in salt water and fresh water. Land snails are terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells, It is not always an easy matter to say which species are terrestrial, because some are more or less...
, a terrestrial
Terrestrial animal
Terrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land , as compared with aquatic animals, which live predominantly or entirely in the water , or amphibians, which rely on a combination of aquatic and terrestrial habitats...
pulmonate gastropod mollusc or micromollusc
Micromollusk
A micromollusk is a descriptive term for a shelled mollusk which is extremely small, even at full adult size. The word is usually, but not exclusively, applied to marine mollusks, although in addition, numerous species of land snails and freshwater mollusks also reach adult size at very small...
in the family Vertiginidae
Vertiginidae
Vertiginidae is a family of minute, air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs or micromollusks in the superfamily Pupilloidea.- Distribution :...
, the vertigo snails.
This species was named after the early 19th century French naturalist, Charles des Moulins
Charles des Moulins
Charles des Moulins, full name Charles Robert Alexandre des Moulins was a French naturalist, a botanist and malacologist.-Taxa:Moulins named and described numerous species of snails, for example:* Pagodulina pagodula...
.
Habitat
This species lives in marshMarsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
es and swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
s.
Desmoulin's whorl snail lives in calcareous wetlands, where there are tall sedge
Cyperaceae
Cyperaceae are a family of monocotyledonous graminoid flowering plants known as sedges, which superficially resemble grasses or rushes. The family is large, with some 5,500 species described in about 109 genera. These species are widely distributed, with the centers of diversity for the group...
s, saw-sedge (Cladium mariscus
Cladium mariscus
Cladium mariscus is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common name Saw-sedge or Sawtooth Sedge. It is native of temperate Europe and Asia where it grows in base-rich boggy areas and lakesides. It can be up to 2.5 metres tall, and has leaves with hard serrated edges....
), reed-grass (Glyceria maxima
Glyceria maxima
Glyceria maxima Holmb. is a species of rhizomatous perennial grasses in the mannagrass genus native to Europe and Western Siberia and growing in wet areas such as riverbanks and ponds...
) or the reed Phragmites australis.
Distribution
The distribution of this species is Atlantic (the part of the Palearctic area which is under the direct climatic influence of the AtlanticOcean), and southern-European.
This small snail occurs across Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
as far north as southern Sweden.
Within Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
, only the populations in England (Great Britain) and Ireland are considered to be viable, although further populations exist in the Czech Republic (critically endangered, occupying White Carpathians Biospehere Reserve, Kokořínsko Landscape Protected Area and Southern Moravia), in Poland (critically endangered) and elsewhere in Europe (for example: Netherlands, France). Its conservation status in the Czech Republic in 2004-2006 is favourable (FV) in the report for the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
in accordance with the Habitats Directive. Its conservation status in Spain is endangered and it occurs in two localities only: near Estañá lake and near Lake of Banyoles
Lake of Banyoles
Lake of Banyoles is a natural lake located in the comarca "Pla de l'Estany", Province of Girona, in northeastern Catalonia, Spain. It is named after the nearby town of Banyoles, to which it belongs entirely. On the western shore it borders with the town of Porqueres...
.
Distribution of other European countries include Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Its distribution also include Algeria and Morocco.
This species is mentioned in Annex II of the European Union's
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
Habitats Directive.
Shell description
The shellGastropod shell
The gastropod shell is a shell which is part of the body of a gastropod or snail, one kind of mollusc. The gastropod shell is an external skeleton or exoskeleton, which serves not only for muscle attachment, but also for protection from predators and from mechanical damage...
is dextral, minute, ovate, ventricose, obtuse at apex
Apex (mollusc)
Apex is an anatomical term for the tip of the mollusc shell of a gastropod, scaphopod, or cephalopod mollusc.-Gastropods:The word "apex" is most often used to mean the tip of the spire of the shell of a gastropod...
, smoothish, subperforate. Aperture
Aperture (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....
is semiovate, 4-toothed: 1 tooth on the parietal wall, another on the columella, and two palatals, the lower one longer. The shell has 4 whorls
Whorl (mollusc)
A whorl is a single, complete 360° revolution or turn in the spiral growth of a mollusc shell. A spiral configuration of the shell is found in of numerous gastropods, but it is also found in shelled cephalopods including Nautilus, Spirula and the large extinct subclass of cephalopods known as the...
, parted by a distinct suture, the last doubly larger than all the others together. Rather solid, glossy, subpellucid and of a uniform fulvous color.
The shell of this species reaches about 3 mm tall. The shell is yellowish or brownish and translucent.
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Status in the United Kingdom
In the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Desmoulin's whorl snail is listed as endangered, although it occurs in a number of areas in a band from Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
to Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, with outlying populations in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
and the Llŷn Peninsula
Llŷn Peninsula
The Llŷn Peninsula extends into the Irish Sea from north west Wales, south west of the Isle of Anglesey. It is part of the modern county and historic region of Gwynedd. The name is thought to be of Irish origin, and to have the same root Laigin in Irish as the word Leinster...
in North Wales
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
and has probably been under-reported in the past because of its minute size. Its presence on the site of the planned Newbury bypass
Newbury bypass
The Newbury bypass, officially known as The Winchester-Preston Trunk Road , is a stretch of dual carriageway road which bypasses the town of Newbury in Berkshire, England...
caused the building of that road to be postponed; the building works were able to go ahead once the snails had been moved to a new habitat nearby. It is reported to have since died out at the new site, but the same report states "Desmoulin's whorl snail is now considered less scarce than it was 10 years ago".
On a stamp
Deutsche PostDeutsche Post
Deutsche Post AG, operating under the trade name Deutsche Post DHL, is the world's largest logistics group. With its headquarters in Bonn, the corporation has 467,088 employees in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide and generated revenue of € 51.48 billion in 2010...
featured V. moulinsiana on a 2002 German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
€
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
0.51 postage stamp
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
as part of a series on endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
of animals.
External links
- Close-up photo of the shell of Vertigo moulinsiana
- http://www.staff.amu.edu.pl/~polmal/smp/v64.htm
- Life in UK Rivers : http://www.english-nature.org.uk/LifeInUKRivers/species/snail.html http://160.92.130.72/UserFiles/File/Patrimoine_naturel/Natura_2000/RRB/fiches_especes/mollusques/Vertigo_moulinsiana_fiche_espece.pdf
