Segmentina nitida
Encyclopedia
The shining ram's-horn snail, Segmentina nitida, is a species
of small, air-breathing, freshwater snail
, an aquatic
gastropod mollusk or micromollusk
in the family Planorbidae, the ramshorn snails.
of this species is sinistral in coiling and almost planispiral in shape. The spire
is deeply sunken. The surface of the shell is glossy.
The maximum shell diameter is about 7 mm.
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 small, air-breathing, 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...
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 Planorbidae, the ramshorn snails.
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...
of this species is sinistral in coiling and almost planispiral in shape. The spire
Spire (mollusc)
A spire is a descriptive term for part of the coiled shell of mollusks. The word is a convenient aid in describing shells, but it does not refer to a very precise part of shell anatomy: the spire consists of all of the whorls except for the body whorl...
is deeply sunken. The surface of the shell is glossy.
The maximum shell diameter is about 7 mm.
Habitat
This species lives in water weeds, in ponds and marsh drainage ditches. It is uncommon to rare.Distribution
- Czech Republic - vulnerable (VU)
- British Isles - listed in List of endangered species in the British Isles.
- Great Britain in England - endangered (EN)
- Germany - endangered (gefährdet)
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Slovakia
- Latvia
- ...