Pomatiopsis 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 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 with gills and 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 ....

.

Pomatiopsis is the type genus of the family Pomatiopsidae.

Distribution

The distribution of the genus Pomatiopsis includes the USA: West Coast of the United States

West Coast of the United States

West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...

, Midwestern United States

Midwestern United States

The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....

 and Eastern United States

Eastern United States

The Eastern United States, the American East, or simply the East is traditionally defined as the states east of the Mississippi River. The first two tiers of states west of the Mississippi have traditionally been considered part of the West, but can be included in the East today; usually in...

.

Description

In 1862, the American malacologist George Washington Tryon

George Washington Tryon

George Washington Tryon, Jr. was an American malacologist who worked at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia.- Biography :George Washington Tryon was the son of Edward K. Tryon and Adeline Savidt...

 first defined this genus. Tryon's diagnosis reads as follows:

Species

There are four species within the genus Pomatiopsis:

• Pomatiopsis binneyi Tryon, 1863
• Pomatiopsis californica Pilsbry, 1899
• Pomatiopsis cincinnatiensis (Lea, 1840)
• Pomatiopsis lapidaria
  Pomatiopsis lapidaria
  Pomatiopsis lapidaria is an amphibious species of snail with gills and an operculum, a gastropod mollusk in the family Pomatiopsidae.Pomatiopsis lapidaria is the type species of the genus Pomatiopsis.-Distribution :...
  
  (Say, 1817) - type species

Ecology

Species in the genus Pomatiopsis are amphibious, living in humid habitats, on marshy ground and in periodically flooded soil (Pomatiopsis californica and Pomatiopsis lapidaria), in trickling water (Pomatiopsis binneyi) and on mud of streams (Pomatiopsis cincinnatiensis).