Oospira duci

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Oospira duci
Oospira duci shell.jpg
Three views of the shell which is the holotype of Oospira duci
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked):clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Eupulmonata
clade Stylommatophora
informal group Sigmurethra
Superfamily: Clausilioidea
Family: Clausiliidae
Subfamily: Phadusinae
Tribe: Megalophaedusini
Genus: Oospira
Subgenus:Oospira
Species:O. duci
Binomial name
Oospira duci
Maassen & Gittenberger, 2007 [1]

Oospira duci is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial gastropod mollusk in the family Clausiliidae, the door snails.

In biology, a species ( ) is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, morphology, behaviour or ecological niche. In addition, paleontologists use the concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined. While these definitions may seem adequate, when looked at more closely they represent problematic species concepts. For example, the boundaries between closely related species become unclear with hybridisation, in a species complex of hundreds of similar microspecies, and in a ring species. Also, among organisms that reproduce only asexually, the concept of a reproductive species breaks down, and each clone is potentially a microspecies.

Land snail

A land snail is any of the numerous species of snail that live on land, as opposed to the sea snails and freshwater snails. Land snail is the common name for terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells. However, it is not always easy to say which species are terrestrial, because some are more or less amphibious between land and fresh water, and others are relatively amphibious between land and salt water.

Clausiliidae family of molluscs

Clausiliidae, also known by their common name the door snails, are a taxonomic family of small, very elongate, mostly left-handed, air-breathing land snails, sinistral terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks.

Contents

This land snail, which was described in 2007, lives in limestone areas in Vietnam. The species was described from just one shell, and thus no details of the anatomy of the soft parts or the radula could be provided. The shell is decollate (which means that several of the earlier whorls have been shed and the shell sealed off anew) making the spire blunt-ended.

Limestone Sedimentary rocks made of calcium carbonate

Limestone is a carbonate sedimentary rock that is often composed of the skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral, foraminifera, and molluscs. Its major materials are the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). A closely related rock is dolomite, which contains a high percentage of the mineral dolomite, CaMg(CO3)2. In fact, in old USGS publications, dolomite was referred to as magnesian limestone, a term now reserved for magnesium-deficient dolomites or magnesium-rich limestones.

Vietnam Country in Southeast Asia

Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula. With an estimated 94.6 million inhabitants as of 2016, it is the 15th most populous country in the world. Vietnam is bordered by China to the north, Laos and Cambodia to the west, part of Thailand to the southwest, and the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia across the South China Sea to the east and southeast. Its capital city has been Hanoi since the reunification of North and South Vietnam in 1976, while its most populous city is Ho Chi Minh City.

Spire (mollusc)

A spire is a part of the coiled shell of molluscs. The spire consists of all of the whorls except for the body whorl. Each spire whorl represents a rotation of 360°. A spire is part of the shell of a snail, a gastropod mollusc, a gastropod shell, and also the whorls of the shell in ammonites, which are fossil shelled cephalopods.

The specific name duci is in honor of the biologist Le Thien Duc. [1]

Thanh Hoa Province, in Vietnam, where Oospira duci occurs LocationVietnamThanhHoa.png
Thanh Hóa Province, in Vietnam, where Oospira duci occurs

Distribution

This species occurs in:

The type locality is Pu Luong Nature Reserve, on a limestone hill near the small native village Am, 20°27.39'N 105°13.65'E, Thanh Hóa Province, Vietnam. [1]

Thanh Hóa Province Province in North Central Coast, Vietnam

Thanh Hóa is a province in the North Central Coast region of Vietnam. This is a relatively large province, which ranks as fifth in area and as third in population among 63 central administrative subdivisions. Its capital and largest city is Thanh Hóa City. The province is widely called Xứ Thanh which means Thanh Hóa land in Vietnamese.

Description

The shell is dextral, decollate, rather large, more or less fusiform, solid, dark brown, not translucent. Apical whorls are not known. The decollated shell consists of five somewhat flattened whorls, separated by a slightly indented suture and increasing gradually in width. It is sculptured with distinct, regularly arranged ribs (5-8 per mm on the whorl above the aperture), somewhat fading above the aperture and hardly coarser in the cervical region. Neck is without a crest. Aperture is detached, obliquely pear-shaped, whitish inside. Peristome is continuous, whitish, thickened and broadly reflexed; basal side more or less semicircular. [1]

Gastropod shell part of the body of a gastropod or snail

The gastropod shell is part of the body of a gastropod or snail, a kind of mollusc. The shell is an exoskeleton, which protects from predators, mechanical damage, and dehydration, but also serves for muscle attachment and calcium storage. Some gastropods appear shell-less (slugs) but may have a remnant within the mantle, or the shell is reduced such that the body cannot be retracted within (semi-slug). Some snails also possess an operculum that seals the opening of the shell, known as the aperture, which provides further protection. The study of mollusc shells is known as conchology. The biological study of gastropods, and other molluscs in general, is malacology. Shell morphology terms vary by species group. An excellent source for terminology of the gastropod shell is "How to Know the Eastern Land Snails" by John B. Burch now freely available at the Hathi Trust Digital Library.

Whorl (mollusc)

A whorl is a single, complete 360° revolution or turn in the spiral growth of a mollusc shell. A spiral configuration of the shell is found in of numerous gastropods, but it is also found in shelled cephalopods including Nautilus, Spirula and the large extinct subclass of cephalopods known as the ammonites.

Sculpture (mollusc)

Sculpture is a feature of many of the shells of mollusks. It is three-dimensional ornamentation on the outer surface of the shell, as distinct from either the basic shape of the shell itself or the pattern of colouration, if any. Sculpture is a feature found in the shells of gastropods, bivalves, and scaphopods. The word "sculpture" is also applied to surface features of the aptychus of ammonites, and to the outer surface of some calcareous opercula of marine gastropods such as some species in the family Trochidae.

Lamella parietalis (= superior) is connected with the spiralis, rather prominent, reaching the margin of the peristome, which forms an obtuse angle at that site. In frontal view, the lamella columellaris (= inferior) is visible over a relatively long distance as a low, straight lamella ascending into the shell. Lamella subcolumellaris equally well visible in frontal view. Left laterally with six plicae palatales: plica principalis rather short, not visible in frontal view, at the end with five short, slightly curved plicae, somewhat diverging from the principalis and running parallel which each other. Since the single shell that was available has not been opened, details on the inside endings of the lamellae cannot be given. [1]

The width of the shell is 7.0 mm. [1] The height of the shell is 21.5 mm. [1]

Oospira miranda Loosjes & Loosjes-van Bemmel, 1973, is the conchologically most similar species. However, the shell of Oospira miranda is light corneous, more or less smooth, i.e. with only some faint, irregular striae. Its topwhorls increase more rapidly in width, which gives the shell a more fusiform shape, and the lamella subcolumellaris is not visible in a frontal view. [1]

Ecology

Oospira duci is known to inhabit limestone areas. [1]

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References

This article incorporates CC-BY-3.0 text from the reference [1]

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Maassen W. J. M. & Gittenberger E. (2007). "Three new clausiliid land snails from Tonkin, northern Vietnam (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Clausiliidae)". Zoologische Mededelingen 81(1): http://www.zoologischemededelingen.nl/81/nr01/a10