''Pleurocera'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
freshwater snail
Freshwater snails are gastropod mollusks that 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 t ...
s with an
operculum,
aquatic
Aquatic means relating to water; living in or near water or taking place in water; does not include groundwater, as "aquatic" implies an environment where plants and animals live.
Aquatic(s) may also refer to:
* Aquatic animal, either vertebrate ...
gastropod
Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda ().
This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...
mollusc
Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...
s in the family
Pleuroceridae
Pleuroceridae, common name pleurocerids, is a family of small to medium-sized freshwater snails, aquatic gilled gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Cerithioidea.These snails have an operculum and typically a robust high-spired shell.
Reproduc ...
.
[MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Pleurocera Rafinesque, 1818. Accessed at: http://www.molluscabase.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=820483 on 2023-10-31]
''Pleurocera'' is the
type genus
In biological taxonomy, the type genus (''genus typica'') is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name.
Zoological nomenclature
According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearin ...
of that family.
Distribution
All members of the genus ''Pleurocera'' are native to eastern
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
.
[Dillon R. T. (2011). "Robust Shell Phenotype is a Local Response to Stream Size in the Genus ''Pleurocera'' (Rafinesque, 1818)". '']Malacologia
''Malacologia'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal in the field of malacology, the study of mollusks. The journal publishes articles in the fields of molluscan systematics, ecology, population ecology, genetics, molecular genetics, evolution, an ...
'' 53(2): 265-277. .
Description
All of the species in this genus have thick-walled high-
spired shells, and some attain a length of over . The shape of the
shell
Shell may refer to:
Architecture and design
* Shell (structure), a thin structure
** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses
Science Biology
* Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...
is elongate-conic or cylindrical.
The
sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
of the shell is often carinate or costate.
The shell of larger species sometimes develops sculpturing and a small
siphonal canal
The siphonal canal is an anatomical feature of the shells of certain groups of sea snails within the clade Neogastropoda. Some sea marine gastropods have a soft tubular anterior extension of the mantle called a siphon through which water i ...
or
siphonal notch
A siphonal notch is a feature of the gastropod shell, shell anatomy in some sea snails, Marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusc, mollusks.
In these particular groups of sea snails the animal has a soft tubular anterior extension of the mantle ( ...
at the base of the
aperture
In optics, the aperture of an optical system (including a system consisting of a single lens) is the hole or opening that primarily limits light propagated through the system. More specifically, the entrance pupil as the front side image o ...
.
are paucispiral and
corneous
Corneous is a biological and medical term meaning horny, in other words made out of a substance similar to that of horns and hooves in some mammals.
The word is generally used to describe natural or pathological anatomical structures made o ...
, but may be
vestigial
Vestigiality is the retention, during the process of evolution, of genetically determined structures or attributes that have lost some or all of the ancestral function in a given species. Assessment of the vestigiality must generally rely on co ...
in some species, not completely closing the aperture.
The soft parts of the animal usually have a gray or brown coloration, commonly speckled with orange. The similar genus ''
Juga
''Juga'' is a genus of freshwater snails with a gill and an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Semisulcospiridae.
These snails are native to the rivers of the northwestern United States and adjacent British Columbia. Several s ...
'' has a
seminal receptacle
Female sperm storage is a biological process and often a type of sexual selection in which sperm cells transferred to a female during mating are temporarily retained within a specific part of the reproductive tract before the oocyte, or egg, is fe ...
, but ''Pleurocera'' has no seminal receptacle.
Species
Species within the genus ''Pleurocera'' include:
* ''
Pleurocera acuta'' Rafinesque, 1831 - sharp hornsnail,
type species
In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...
of the genus ''Pleurocera''
[Melville R. V. (1981). "Opinion 1195. ''Pleurocera'' Rafinesque, 1818 (Gastropoda): The type species is ''Pleurocerus acutus'' Rafinesque in Blainville, 1824". '']Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature
The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries.
Orga ...
'' 38: 259–265.
* ''Pleurocera alveare'' Conrad, 1834 -
rugged hornsnail
* ''Pleurocera annulifera'' Conrad, 1834 -
ringed hornsnail
* ''Pleurocera attenuata'' (I. Lea, 1862)
* ''Pleurocera brumbyi'' I. Lea, 1852 -
spiral hornsnail
* ''Pleurocera burkevillensis'' Stenzel & F. E. Turner, 1944
* ''
Pleurocera canaliculata'' (Say, 1821) - silty hornsnail
* ''Pleurocera corpulenta'' Anthony, 1854 -
corpulent hornsnail
* ''Pleurocera foremani'' I. Lea, 1843 -
rough hornsnail
* ''Pleurocera gigantica'' Naranjo-García & Aguillón, 2019
* ''Pleurocera gradata'' (J. G. Anthony, 1854) - bottle hornsnail
* ''Pleurocera guantouensis'' W. Yü, 1980
* ''Pleurocera nicolayana'' (Hartt, 1870)
* ''Pleurocera nobilis'' (I. Lea, 1845) - noble hornsnail
* ''Pleurocera parva'' (I. Lea, 1862) - dainty hornsnail
* ''Pleurocera picta'' (I. Lea, 1841)
* ''Pleurocera postellii'' (I. Lea, 1862) - broken hornsnail
* ''Pleurocera prasinata'' (Conrad, 1834) - smooth hornsnail
* ''Pleurocera pyrenella'' Conrad, 1834 -
skirted hornsnail
* ''Pleurocera showalterii'' I. Lea, 1862 -
upland hornsnail
* ''Pleurocera striata'' (I. Lea, 1862) - striate hornsnail
* ''Pleurocera trochiformis'' (Conrad, 1834) - sulcate hornsnail
* ''Pleurocera uncialis'' (Haldeman, 1842) - pagoda hornsnail
* ''Pleurocera vestita'' (Conrad, 1834) - brook hornsnail
* ''Pleurocera viridula'' (J. G. Anthony, 1854)
* ''Pleurocera walkeri'' Goodrich, 1928 -
telescope hornsnail
* ''Pleurocera warrenana'' (Meek & Hayden, 1857)
;Species brought into synonymy:
* ''Pleurocera acutum''
Rafinesque, 1824: synonym of ''Pleurocera acuta''
* ''Pleurocera bicinctum''
Tryon, 1866: synonym of ''Pleurocera picta''
* ''Pleurocera conradi''
Tryon, 1865: synonym of ''Pleurocera pyrenella''
* ''Pleurocera costulatum''
Fuchs, 1870: synonym of ''
Goniochilus costulatus''
(Fuchs, 1870)
* ''Pleurocera currierana''
(I. Lea, 1863): synonym of ''Pleurocera brumbyi''
* ''Pleurocera curta''
(Haldeman, 1841: synonym of ''Pleurocera picta''
* ''Pleurocera hinkleyi''
Goodrich, 1921: synonym of ''Pleurocera acuta''
* ''Pleurocera kochii''
Fuchs, 1870: synonym of ''
Goniochilus kochii''
(Fuchs, 1870)
* ''Pleurocera laeve''
T. Fuchs, 18701: synonym of ''
Micromelania laevis''
* ''Pleurocera leaii''
Tryon, 1873: synonym of ''Pleurocera prasinata''
* ''Pleurocera lewisii''
(I. Lea, 1862): synonym of ''Pleurocera acuta''
* ''Pleurocera parkeri''
Tryon, 1873: synonym of ''
Elimia viennaensis
''Elimia'' is a genus of freshwater snails in the family Pleuroceridae. Species of the genus are aquatic gastropod mollusks that have an operculum. Various species are found in creeks throughout much of the eastern and central United States and ...
''
* ''Pleurocera parkerii''
Tryon, 1873: synonym of ''Pleurocera canaliculata''
* ''Pleurocera plicatum''
Tryon, 1863: synonym of ''Pleurocera alveare''
* ''Pleurocera postelli''
(I. Lea, 1862): synonym of ''Pleurocera postellii''
* ''Pleurocera quadrosa''
Rafinesque, 1831: synonym of ''Pleurocera canaliculata''
* ''Pleurocera radmanesti''
Fuchs, 1870: synonym of ''
Prososthenia radmanesti''
* ''Pleurocera scalariaeforme''
T. Fuchs, 1870: synonym of ''
Goniochilus scalariaeformis''
* ''Pleurocera schwabenaui''
T. Fuchs, 1870: synonym of ''
Goniochilus schwabenaui''
* ''Pleurocera shenandoa''
Dillon, 2019: synonym of ''
Elimia shenandoa
''Elimia'' is a genus of freshwater snails in the family Pleuroceridae. Species of the genus are aquatic gastropod mollusks that have an operculum (gastropod), operculum. Various species are found in creeks throughout much of the eastern and cent ...
''
* ''Pleurocera showalteri'': synonym of ''Pleurocera showalterii''
* ''Pleurocera spinosa''
(Deshayes, 1834): synonym of ''
Cerithium spinosum''
Bruguière, 1792
* ''Pleurocera strombiforme''
(Schlotheim, 1820): synonym of ''
Paraglauconia strombiforme''
* ''Pleurocera subulare''
(I. Lea, 1831): synonym of ''Pleurocera acuta''
* ''Pleurocera terebriformis''
(J. Morris, 1859): synonym of ''
Pachychilus terebriformis''
* ''Pleurocera verrucosa''
Rafinesque, 1820: synonym of ''
Lithasia verrucosa''
;
Nomen nudum
In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, a ''nomen nudum'' ('naked name'; plural ''nomina nuda'') is a designation which looks exactly like a scientific name of an organism, and may have originally been intended to be one, but it has not been published ...
* ''Pleurocera angulata''
Rafinesque, 1818
* ''Pleurocera coneola''
Rafinesque, 1818
* ''Pleurocera fasciata''
Rafinesque, 1818
* ''Pleurocera retusa''
Rafinesque, 1818
* ''Pleurocera saxatilis''
Rafinesque, 1818
* ''Pleurocera turricula''
Rafinesque, 1818
''Pleurocera gonula''
Rafinesque, 1831 (
nomen dubium
In binomial nomenclature, a ''nomen dubium'' (Latin for "doubtful name", plural ''nomina dubia'') is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application.
Zoology
In case of a ''nomen dubium,'' it may be impossible to determine whether a ...
)
Ecology
Most species inhabit larger
river
A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
s.
''Pleurocera'' snails are
dioecious
Dioecy ( ; ; adj. dioecious, ) is a characteristic of certain species that have distinct unisexual individuals, each producing either male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproduction is ...
.
References
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3171700
Pleuroceridae
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque