Gundlachia neozelanica
Encyclopedia
Gundlachia neozelanica is a species
of minute freshwater snail or limpet
, an aquatic
pulmonate gastropod mollusk, or micromollusk
, in the family
Planorbidae
.
depressed conoidal, oval-oblong, the sides straightened, subparallel, thin, semitransparent, horn-colour, with a blackish-green coating. Apex
a little inclined to the right, situated at the posterior sixth of the length, flatly convex anteriorly; concentric lines of growth at regular intervals. Interior light brown, shining. Aperture
is elongated oval, slightly broadened anteriorly. Specimens have been found with the septum partly formed, but not adult.
The shell length is up to 3 mm, the width up to 2 mm, and height up to 0.75 mm.
as these limpets may sometimes not be able to reach the surface for air.
of New Zealand.
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 freshwater snail or limpet
Limpet
Limpet is a common name for a number of different kinds of saltwater and freshwater snails ; it is applied to those snails that have a simple shell which is more or less conical in shape, and either is not spirally coiled, or appears not to be coiled in the adult snails.The name limpet is most...
, 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, or micromollusk
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
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
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....
.
Shell description
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...
depressed conoidal, oval-oblong, the sides straightened, subparallel, thin, semitransparent, horn-colour, with a blackish-green coating. 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...
a little inclined to the right, situated at the posterior sixth of the length, flatly convex anteriorly; concentric lines of growth at regular intervals. Interior light brown, shining. 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 elongated oval, slightly broadened anteriorly. Specimens have been found with the septum partly formed, but not adult.
The shell length is up to 3 mm, the width up to 2 mm, and height up to 0.75 mm.
Anatomy
These animals have a pallial lung, as do all pulmonate snails, but they also have a false gill or "pseudobranch". This serves as a gillGill
A gill is a respiratory organ found in many aquatic organisms that extracts dissolved oxygen from water, afterward excreting carbon dioxide. The gills of some species such as hermit crabs have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are kept moist...
as these limpets may sometimes not be able to reach the surface for air.
Distribution
This freshwater limpet is endemic to the South IslandSouth Island
The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
of New Zealand.