The Wekiwa hydrobe or Wekiwa springs aphaostracon, scientific name ''Aphaostracon monas'', is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), 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 ...

of small

freshwater snail Freshwater snails are gastropod mollusks which live in fresh water. There are many different families. They are found throughout the world in various habitats, ranging from ephemeral pools to the largest lakes, and from small seeps and springs ...

, and aquatic gastropod

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is es ...

in the family

Cochliopidae Cochliopidae is a family of small freshwater snails with gills and an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks. Paludestrina d'Orbigny, 1840 is an archaic synonym, and has been placed on the Official Index of Rejected and Invalid Names by ICZN ...

.Bouchet, P. (2014). Aphaostracon monas (Pilsbry, 1899). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=729798 on 2014-11-16

Distribution

This species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...

s, and it is named after the Wekiwa springs and

Wekiwa River The Wekiva River (sometimes spelled Wekiwa, a Creek word meaning "spring of water") is a river in Central Florida, north of Orlando in the United States. It originates in Apopka and joins the St. Johns River, the longest river in the state, in ...

in Florida. The continued existence of this species is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

References

* Hershler R. & Thompson F.G. (1992) ''A review of the aquatic gastropod subfamily Cochliopinae (Prosobranchia: Hydrobiidae).'' Malacological Review suppl. 5: 1-140. Molluscs of the United States Aphaostracon Gastropods described in 1899 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Cochliopidae-stub