Stenotrema edvardsi

Stenotrema edvardsi
Conservation status
Apparently Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Order:	Stylommatophora
Family:	Polygyridae
Genus:	Stenotrema
Species:	S. edvardsi
Binomial name
Stenotrema edvardsi (Bland, 1856)
Synonyms
Helix edvardsiBland, 1856 (original combination) Polygra edvardsiBland, 1856 (superseded combination)

Stenotrema edvardsi, also known as the Ridge-and-valleyslitmouth, is a species of pulmonate land snail in the family Polygyridae.

Conchologist Thomas B. Bland named the species after his friend, W.H. Edwards, who collected the shell and brought it to Bland's attention. ^[1]

Physical appearance

Ridge-and-valley slitmouths tend to range from 7–8 mm (0.28–0.31 in) in diameter and 4.5–5 mm (0.18–0.20 in) in height. ^[2] The shell is lens-shaped, chestnut-colored, and covered in small, hair-like radial ridges. There are short, bristle-like hairs along the periphery. The top of the shell is conoid with an elevated, but somewhat, flat spire, and the base is convex. The aperture is transverse and narrow with a long parietal tooth that does not project past the basal lip. ^{[1] [2]}

Ecology

The Ridge-and-valley slitmouth is endemic to the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States, where it can be found in Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, and Alabama. ^[3] Biologist Henry A. Pilsbry also cites it in Georgia and Pennsylvania. ^[2] It is listed as globally secure, but as vulnerable in Virginia and West Virginia. It is unlisted in Alabama. ^[3]

This species is most commonly found in mixed hardwood forests along rocky hillsides or ravines, on logs or in leaf litter. ^[4] It is very common in hemlock-dominated forest. ^[5]

References

1. Bland, T. (1858). Descriptions of two new species of North American Helicidae. Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York. 6: 277–280, pl. 9.
2. "Stenotrema edvardsi". Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 2025-01-25.
3. "Stenotrema edvardsi". NatureServe Explorer 2.0. Retrieved 2025-01-25.
4. Hubricht, Leslie (1985). The distributions of the native land mollusks of the Eastern United States. Field Museum of Natural History. 40.
5. Dourson, D.C. 2013. Land snails of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and southern Appalachians. Goatslug Publications, Bakersville, NC. 336 pp.