Fukuia is a genus

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 amphibious 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....

s and 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...

s with 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...

, gastropod mollusks in the family Pomatiopsidae

Pomatiopsidae

Pomatiopsidae is a family of small mainly freshwater snails with gills and an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Rissooidea ....

.

Distribution

The genus Fukuia is endemic to Honshu

Honshu

is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...

, Japan. These snails occur especially in the northern and western part of Japan, on the coast of the Sea of Japan

Sea of Japan

The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...

. There is a unique climate in the Sea of Japan with high precipitation

Precipitation (meteorology)

In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...

 due to winter snowfall in the area of distribution of Fukuia. These snails have been described as a "Japan Sea element".

Species

Species within the genus Fukuia include:

• Fukuia integra
  Fukuia integra
  Fukuia integra, also known as Blanfordia integra, is a species of land snail which has an operculum, a terrestrial gastropod mollusk in the family Pomatiopsidae.- Taxonomy :...
  
  (Pilsbry, 1924) - synonym: Blanfordia integra Pilsbry, 1924, terrestrial
• Fukuia kurodai
  Fukuia kurodai
  Fukuia kurodai is a species of amphibious freshwater snail with an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Pomatiopsidae.Fukuia kurodai is the type species of the genus Fukuia.- Subspecies :...
  
  Abbott & Hunter, 1949 - type species, amphibious
  • Fukuia kurodai kurodai Abbott & Hunter, 1949
  • Fukuia kurodai niigataensis Minato, 1973
• Fukuia multistriata
  Fukuia multistriata
  Fukuia multistriata is a species of amphibious freshwater snail with an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Pomatiopsidae.- Distribution :This species is endemic to Honshu, Japan.- Ecology :...
  
  Abbott & Hunter, 1949 - amphibious

The speciation

Speciation

Speciation is the evolutionary process by which new biological species arise. The biologist Orator F. Cook seems to have been the first to coin the term 'speciation' for the splitting of lineages or 'cladogenesis,' as opposed to 'anagenesis' or 'phyletic evolution' occurring within lineages...

 of genus Fukuia likely started around 7.2 millions years ago in the Late Miocene

Late Miocene

The Late Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch....

.

Unassigned to genus:

• Fukuia ooyagii
  Fukuia ooyagii
  Fukuia ooyagii is a species of freshwater snail which has an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Pomatiopsidae.- Taxonomy :...
  
  Minato, 1982 - Aquatic species Fukuia ooyagii should be separated from Fukuia, and its generic assignment should be determined coupled with the investigation of its soft-part morphology.

Ecology

Fukuia kurodai and Fukuia multistriata live amphibiously around rocky walls of steep valleys covered with ferns

Ferns

Ferns can refer to:* Fern, any of many groups of Pteridophyta in the plant kingdom* Ferns, County Wexford, a small historic town in north County Wexford, Ireland* The Roman Catholic Diocese of Ferns* The Bishop of Ferns and Leighlin...

 and bryophyte

Bryophyte

Bryophyte is a traditional name used to refer to all embryophytes that do not have true vascular tissue and are therefore called 'non-vascular plants'. Some bryophytes do have specialized tissues for the transport of water; however since these do not contain lignin, they are not considered to be...

s, and moistened by dripping water. They live only along the mountain streamlets where such habitats are typically found, and often occur with pleurocerid freshwater snails.

Fukuia integra lives as a terrestrial snail in inland forests.