The phantom cave snail or phantom cavesnail (''Pyrgulopsis texana'') is a species of very 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 ...
with an
operculum, an
aquatic gastropod in the family
Hydrobiidae
Hydrobiidae, commonly known as mud snails, is a large cosmopolitan family of very small freshwater and brackish water snails with an operculum; they are in the order Littorinimorpha.
Distribution
Hydrobiidae are found in much of the wor ...
.
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 lower
Pecos River
The Pecos River ( es, Río Pecos) originates in north-central New Mexico and flows into Texas, emptying into the Rio Grande. Its headwaters are on the eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County north of Pecos, New Mexico ...
basin, Texas, 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 ...
.
Genus transfer
When originally described in 1935, the phantom cave snail was assigned to the genus ''Cochliopa''. Following a detailed examination of shell and anatomical characteristics along with genetic sequencing it was transferred to the genus ''Pyrgulopsis'' in 2010.
References
Further reading
* Dundee D. S. & Dundee H. A. (1969). "Notes Concerning Two Texas Molluscs, ''Cochliopa texana'' Pilsbry and ''Lyrodes cheatumi'' Pilsbry (Mollusca: Hydrobiidae)". ''Transactions of the American Microscopical Society'' 88(2): 205-210
JSTOR* Cole G. A. (1976). "A New Amphipod Crustacean, ''Gammarus hyalelloides'' n. sp., from Texas". ''Transactions of the American Microscopical Society'' 95(1): 80-85
JSTOR
External links
* http://ecos.fws.gov/speciesProfile/profile/speciesProfile.action?spcode=G00X
* http://www.panda.org/about_our_earth/ecoregions/chihuahuan_freshwater.cfm
Molluscs of the United States
Pyrgulopsis
Cave snails
Gastropods described in 1935
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN
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