Anguispira fergusoni

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Anguispira fergusoni
Coastalplaintigersnail glmory.jpg
A mature coastal plain tigersnail found in Virginia
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Stylommatophora
Family: Discidae
Genus: Anguispira
Species:
A. fergusoni
Binomial name
Anguispira fergusoni
(Bland, 1862)
Synonyms

Anguispira alternata fergusoni(Bland, 1862)
Helix alternata fergusoni(Bland, 1862)
Pyramidula alternata fergusoni(Bland, 1862)
Anguispira clarki(Vanatta, 1924)

Contents

Anguispira fergusoni, also known as the coastal plain tigersnail or coastal plain disk, is a species of pulmonate land snail in the family Discidae, the disk snails. It is found in multiple states along the east coast of the United States. [1]

Appearance

The shell of the coastal plain tigersnail is heliciform in shape, and slightly flattened. [2] It is fairly smooth and glossy, with minimal striation, and ranges from 15 to 18 mm in diameter. The shell is typically pale yellow in color and covered in brown or dark red splotches that radiate outwards across the snail's whorls. [3] [4]

This snail is most visually similar to Anguispira alternata . However, its shell is typically smaller, its whorls are rounder, and its mucus secretions are clear compared to the saffron-colored mucus of A. alternata. [3]

Ecology

Populations of coastal plain tigersnail have been located in South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. [5] [6] It is listed as critically endangered in Pennsylvania, near threatened in Virginia, and least concern in North Carolina. [1]

The coastal plain tigersnail is endemic to the east coast of the United States, specifically the Atlantic Coastal Plain. [7] The species has gradually moved up through the floodplains of larger rivers into the interior of the Piedmont region. [5] As its name suggests, populations are found in coastal plains, around the fall line. Within these plains, snails are typically found around or in rotting logs, hollow trees, or in the leaf litter in deciduous forested areas. [5] [8] They may form large clusters or colonies of individuals around large senescent trees with trunk cavities. [4] Populations have also been located in urban environments like the New York metro area. [1]

In 2008, the snail was discovered to be preyed on by the larvae of the parastitic sciomyzid fly Pherbellia albovaria . [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snail</span> Shelled gastropod

A snail is a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name snail is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have a coiled shell that is large enough for the animal to retract completely into. When the word "snail" is used in this most general sense, it includes not just land snails but also numerous species of sea snails and freshwater snails. Gastropods that naturally lack a shell, or have only an internal shell, are mostly called slugs, and land snails that have only a very small shell are often called semi-slugs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scotch bonnet (sea snail)</span> Species of mollusc

The Scotch bonnet is a medium-sized to large species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the subfamily Cassinae, the helmet shells and bonnet shells. The common name "Scotch bonnet" alludes to the general outline and color pattern of the shell, which vaguely resemble a tam o' shanter, a traditional Scottish bonnet or cap. The shell is egg-shaped and fairly large, 2 to 4 inches in maximum dimension, with a regular pattern of yellow, orange or brown squarish spots. The surface sculpture of the shell is highly variable: the surface can be smooth and polished, have grooves, be granulated, or even be nodulose on the shoulder of the whorls.

<i>Discus</i> (gastropod) Genus of gastropods

Discus is a genus of small air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Discidae, the disk snails.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Painted snake-coiled forest snail</span> Species of gastropod

Anguispira picta, common names painted snake-coiled forest snail and painted tigersnail, is a rare species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Discidae, the disc snails. It is a limestone specialist, and is limited to outcrops with suitable mineralogy.

<i>Anguispira</i> Genus of gastropods

Anguispira, the tigersnails, is a genus of small pulmonate land snails in the family Discidae endemic to North America. Snails in this genus are defined by their striped shells. Anguispira species are either habitat generalists like A. alternata or limestone specialists like A. cumberlandiana.

<i>Anguispira alternata</i> Species of gastropod

Anguispira alternata, common name the flamed disc or flamed tigersnail, is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Discidae, the disk snails. Flamed discs are medium-sized snails, with shells ranging from 17 to 25 millimeters in diameter. They are found around logs, hollow trees, and rocks in wooded areas throughout eastern North America, ranging from New Brunswick, Canada, south to northern Florida, and west to northeastern Texas, Kansas and western Minnesota. Flamed disks are herbivores that feed on decaying plant material, fungi, and algae.

<i>Anguispira cumberlandiana</i> Vulnerable species of land snail

Anguispira cumberlandiana, also known as the Cumberland tigersnail or the Cumberland disc, is a range-restricted species of pulmonate land snail in the family Discidae, the disk snails. The species is named after the Cumberland Plateau, a section of the Appalachian Plateau that overlaps with its range.

<i>Pherbellia</i> Genus of flies

Pherbellia is a genus of flies in the family Sciomyzidae, the marsh flies or snail-killing flies. They occur throughout the world, except for the Subantarctic region.

<i>Anguispira kochi</i> Species of gastropod

Anguispira kochi, the banded tigersnail, is a species of pulmonate terrestrial gastropod belonging to the family Discidae, the disk snails. There are two recognized subspecies: Anguispira kochi kochi or the eastern banded tigersnail, and Anguispira kochi occidentalis, the western banded tigersnail.

Zafra alternata is a species of sea snail in the family Columbellidae, the dove snails.

Anguispira alabama, also known as the Alabama tigersnail or Alabama disc, is a rare, range-restricted species of pulmonate land snail found in Alabama and Tennessee. Due to its rarity and the difficulty of locating new populations, the species is listed as vulnerable in both states.

<i>Anguispira jessica</i> Species of land snail

Anguispira jessica, also known as the mountain tigersnail or mountain disc, is a species of pulmonate land snail– a gastropod mollusk in the family Discidae, the disk snails. The species is named after G.M. Kutchka's wife Jessica; he was the first to describe the species in 1938. It was originally considered a subspecies of Angusipira alternata, but has since been elevated to species status.

Anguispira nimapuna, also known as the nimapuna or nimapu tigersnail, is a rare, range-restricted species of pulmonate land snail endemic to north-central Idaho. The species is listed as critically endangered in the United States.

Anguispira knoxensis, also known as the rustic tigersnail or rustic disk, is a rare species of pulmonate land snail in the family Discidae, the disk snails. It is endemic to the Great Smoky Mountains in southeastern Tennessee. It was originally considered a subspecies of Anguispira alternata.

Anguispira macneilli, also known as the Tombigbee tigersnail, is a species of pulmonate land snail in the family Discidae, the disk snails. It was formerly treated as a subspecies of Anguispira alternata.

<i>Anguispira mordax</i> Species of land snail

Anguispira mordax, also known as the Appalachian tigersnail, is a species of pulmonate land snail in the family Discidae endemic to the southeastern United States. It is named after the Appalachian mountain range.

<i>Anguispira strongylodes</i> Species of land snail

Anguispira strongylodes, also known as the southeastern tigersnail, is a species of pulmonate land snail in the family Discidae, the disk snails.

Anguispira rugoderma, also known as the Pine Mountain tigersnail, is a rare, narrow-ranged species of pulmonate land snail in the family Discidae, the disk snails. It is named after the Pine Mounatin ridge, a section of the Appalachian Mountains that overlaps with the snail's range.

Anguispira holroydensis was a species of pulmonate land snail in the family Discidae, the disk snails. The species is only known from fossilized specimens. It was first described by Loris S. Russell in 1956.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Anguispira fergusoni". NatureServe.
  2. Bland, T. (1861). Remarks on certain species of North American Helicidae. Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York. 7(30): 420-446 (Dec. 1861), 7(31): 447-448, plate 4 (Feb. 1862).
  3. 1 2 Pilsbry, Henry A. (1948). Land Mollusca of North America (North of Mexico). Vol. 2, Part 2. Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.
  4. 1 2 "Anguispira fergusoni". Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
  5. 1 2 3 Hubricht, Leslie (1966). "Four new land snails". The Nautilus. 80 (2): 53–56. doi: 10.5962/bhl.part.24440 . ISSN   0028-1344.
  6. Hotopp, K. and T.A. Pearce. 2007. Land snails in New York: statewide distribution and talus site faunas. Final Report for contract #NYHER 041129 submitted to New York State Biodiversity Research Institute, New York State Museum, Albany, New York. 91 pp.
  7. Hubricht, Leslie (1985). The distributions of the native land mollusks of the Eastern United States. Field Museum of Natural History.
  8. Norden, Arnold W. "The Terrestrial Gastropods (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of Plummers Island, Maryland". Bulletin of the Biological Society of Washington. 15 (1): 31–40. doi:10.2988/0097-0298(2008)15[31:ttgmgo]2.0.co;2. ISSN   0097-0298.
  9. Örstan, Aydın. "Larva of the sciomyzid fly Pherbellia albovaria preys on the land snail Anguispira fergusoni." Triton 18 (2008): 37.