Anguispira mordax | |
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A mature Appalachian tigersnail found in Tennessee | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
Order: | Stylommatophora |
Family: | Discidae |
Genus: | Anguispira |
Species: | A. mordax |
Binomial name | |
Anguispira mordax (Shuttleworth, 1852) | |
Synonyms | |
Helix mordax(Shuttleworth, 1852) Contents |
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.
The Appalachian tigersnail has a dull, slightly depressed shell ranging from 13 to 18 mm in diameter. [1] [2] It is heavily ribbed, with the ribs being roughly 1-1.5mm apart. [3] This gives the shell a distinct ′wavy′ look. It is striated with a defined carina and a narrow, deep umbilicus. The shell is yellowish or "buckthorn brown" in color, defined by darker brown or reddish streaks that radiate outwards across the shell, running parallel to the radial ribs. [1] [2]
Populations of Appalachian tigersnail have been found across Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, and West Virginia. [4] It is listed as vulnerable in Kentucky, Virginia, and North Carolina and as imperiled in West Virginia.
The Appalachian tigersnail is found in a wide range of habitats similar to those of its close relative, Anguispira alternata . [5] It is typically found in mesic hardwood forests on or around decaying logs, hollow trees, or limestone outcrops. [2] [6]
There is some uncertainty surrounding the Appalachian tigersnail's taxonomy due to its tendency to hybridize with close relatives Anguispira alternata and Anguispira stronglyodes . [2] Malacologist Leslie Hubricht claims the only ′pure′ populations of Appalachian tigersnail exist in the mountains of North Carolina. [5]
The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain. The general definition used is one followed by the United States Geological Survey and the Geological Survey of Canada to describe the respective countries' physiographic regions. The U.S. uses the term Appalachian Highlands and Canada uses the term Appalachian Uplands; the Appalachian Mountains are not synonymous with the Appalachian Plateau, which is one of the provinces of the Appalachian Highlands.
Appalachia is a geographic region located in the central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States. Its boundaries stretch from the western Catskill Mountains of New York into Pennsylvania, continuing on through the Blue Ridge Mountains and Great Smoky Mountains into northern Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, with West Virginia being the only state in which the entire state is within the boundaries of Appalachia. In 2021, the region was home to an estimated 26.3 million people, of whom roughly 80% were White.
The Appalachian Plateau is a series of rugged dissected plateaus located on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains. The Appalachian Mountains are a range that run from Nova Scotia in Canada to Alabama in the United States.
The Upland South and Upper South are two overlapping cultural and geographic subregions in the inland part of the Southern United States. They differ from the Deep South and Atlantic coastal plain by terrain, history, economics, demographics, and settlement patterns.
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.
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.
The Chittenango ovate amber snail is a species of small air-breathing land snail in the family Succineidae, the amber snails. This species was discovered in 1905, and was reported three years later as a subspecies of the oval ambersnail, Succinea ovalis. Several taxonomic reviews took place in the subsequent decades until the end of the 1980s, when the Chittenango ovate amber snail was finally judged to be a distinct species based on chemical and morphological data.
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.
Anguispira cumberlandiana, the Cumberland tigersnail or the Cumberland disc, is a range-restricted species of land snail; a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Discidae. They possess a lens shaped shell with convex whorls and a pinched, serrated keel. The shell is typically pale olive or tan in color, with radiating chestnut stripes and oblique radial streaks. This species is found in a few counties in Alabama and Tennessee along the Cumberland Plateau in the United States.
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.
Zonitoides elliotti, common name green dome, is a species of small air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Gastrodontidae.
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.
Anguispira stihleri, also known as the Greenbrier tigersnail, is a rare, range-restricted species of pulmonate land snail endemic to Greenbrier County, West Virginia. It was first discovered in 1993 by biologist Craig Stilher, for whom it is named.
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 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.
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.
Anguispira strongylodes, also known as the southeastern tigersnail, is a species of pulmonate land snail in the family Discidae, the disk snails.