''Valvata piscinalis'',

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

the European stream valvata or European valve snail, is a

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

of small

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 ...

with

gill A gill () is a respiration organ, respiratory organ that many aquatic ecosystem, aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow r ...

s and an operculum, an aquatic

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 ...

mollusk Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...

in the family

Valvatidae ''Valvatidae'', the valve snails, is a taxonomic family of very small freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks. Taxonomy The family Valvatidae has no subfamilies (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouche ...

, the valve snails. It is also known as ''Cincinna piscinalis'' (Müller, 1774).

Subspecies

Subspecies of ''Valvata piscinalis'' include:Glöer, P. 2002 ''Die Süßwassergastropoden Nord- und Mitteleuropas''. Die Tierwelt Deutschlands, ConchBooks, Hackenheim, 326 pp., , page 190-194. * ''Valvata piscinalis piscinalis'' (O. F. Müller, 1774) * '' Valvata piscinalis antiqua'' (Morris, 1838) * '' Valvata piscinalis geyeri'' (Menzel, 1904) - The name ''geyeri'' is in honor of German zoologist David Geyer (1855–1932). * '' Valvata piscinalis discors'' (Westerlund, 1886) * '' Valvata piscinalis alpestris'' (Küster, 1853)

Shell description

''Valvata piscinalis'' has a somewhat pinched

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 ...

and an attenuate

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

.Grigorovich, I. A., E. L. Mills, C. B. Richards, D. Breneman and J. J. H. Ciborowski. 2005. ''European valve snail Valvata piscinalis (Muller) in the Laurentian Great Lakes basi''n. Journal of Great Lakes Research 31(2):135-143. The spire height tends to increases in more eutrophic conditions.Fretter, V. and A. Graham. 1978. ''The prosobranch mollusks of Britain and Denmark; Part 3: Neritacea, Viviparacea, Valvatacea, terrestrial and fresh water Littorinacea and Rissoacea''. Journal of Molluscan Studies Supplement 5:101-150. Shells of this species often exhibit four or five whorls and are white to beige with more orange to red pigmentation apically. The operculum shows spiral markings of around 10 turns, originating almost centrally. The European valve snail can be confused with ''

Valvata sincera ''Valvata sincera'', common name the mossy valvata is a species of small freshwater snail with a gill and an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusc in the family Valvatidae ''Valvatidae'', the valve snails, is a taxonomic family of very sm ...

'', a native species in the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

; however, the North American species has a more spherical aperture, a wider umbilicus, a conical spire and more widely spaced and rough growth lines on the shell in comparison with the introduced species. In the Great Lakes, introduced mature adult European valve snails are 5 mm high and 3–5 mm wide. In Europe, this snail has been found up to 7 mm high and 6.5 mm wide, but is usually smaller. Dimensions of the shell are: *''Valvata piscinalis piscinalis'' - The width of the shell is 4–5 mm. The height of the shell is 3-4.5 mm. * '' Valvata piscinalis antiqua'' - width: 4.5 mm. height: 6 mm. * '' Valvata piscinalis geyeri'' - width: 2.5 mm. height: 3 mm. * '' Valvata piscinalis discors'' - width: 3 mm. height: 3 mm. * '' Valvata piscinalis alpestris'' - width: 6.3 mm. height: 5.5 mm.

Anatomy

The animals are yellow colored, spotted grey and white, with darker pigmentation on the

snout A snout is the protruding portion of an animal's face, consisting of its nose, mouth, and jaw. In many animals, the structure is called a muzzle, Rostrum (anatomy), rostrum, beak or proboscis. The wet furless surface around the nostrils of the n ...

, mantle and base of the penis. Blue eyes are at the base of long tentacles. Valvatids all exhibit an external bipectinate ctenidium (respiratory organ) which is visible as the animal moves around.

Distribution

The distribution of ''Valvata piscinalis'' is

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

. Although this species is widely distributed in some areas in North America as an introduced species, ''Valvata piscinalis'' has declined in some parts of its native distribution, and in some areas it is endangered.

Indigenous distribution

This species occurs in the British Isles and throughout

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, to

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

and all the way to

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

.Janus, Horst, 1965. ‘’The young specialist looks at land and freshwater molluscs’’, Burke, London. The European valve snail is native to Europe, the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

, western Siberia and Central Asia and is common in many freshwater environments therein. It is entirely absent from Iceland. Europe: *

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

- endangered (3, ''gefährdet'') *

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

- near threatened (NT),Beran L. 2002: ''Vodní měkkýši České republiky - rozšíření a jeho změny, stanoviště, šíření, ohrožení a ochrana, červený seznam. quatic molluscs of the Czech Republic -- distribution and its changes, habitats, dispersal, threat and protection, Red List'. Sborník přírodovědného klubu v Uherském Hradišti, Supplementum 10, 258 pp., page 50-51 and 229. in Bohemia and Moravia Horsák M., Juřičková L., Beran L., Čejka T. & Dvořák L. (2010). "Komentovaný seznam měkkýšů zjištěných ve volné přírodě České a Slovenské republiky. nnotated list of mollusc species recorded outdoors in the Czech and Slovak Republics. '' Malacologica Bohemoslovaca'', Suppl. 1: 1-37
PDF
*

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

- (''Arten der Vorwarnliste''): critically endangered (2, ''stark gefährdet'') in

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

and in

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

, endangered (3, ''gefährdet'') in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, (4R, ''rückläufig'') in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, species with limited distribution in

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

, (''Arten der Vorwarnliste'') in

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

and in

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

. In other federal states of Germany the species is common. *

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

* the British Isles:

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

- not in red list Asia: *

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

(file created 29 July 2010
FRESH WATER MOLLUSCAN SPECIES IN INDIA
11 pp. accessed 31 July 2010.

Nonindigenous distribution

''Valvata piscinalis'' is an introduced species in the United States. The European valve snail was originally introduced to

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

at the mouth of the

Genesee River The Genesee River ( ) is a tributary of Lake Ontario flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York in the United States. The river contains several waterfalls in New York at Letchworth State Park and Roch ...

in 1897. In forty years it dispersed to

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

and subsequently it expanded its range to the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrenc ...

, the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

, Champlain Lake and Cayuga Lake. ''Valvata piscinalis'' was recorded in the 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century in Superior Bay in

Lake Superior Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...

(Minnesota),

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

(Wisconsin) and Oneida Lake in the Lake Ontario watershed (

New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

Ecology

Habitat

This small snail is found in freshwater streams, rivers, and lakes, preferring running water and tolerating water with low calcium levels. In its native range, this species' presence has been associated with oligotrophic nearshore zones, clear-water habitats more than turbid water, sparsely vegetated lakes or sites dominated by '' Chara'' spp. and ''

Potamogeton ''Potamogeton'' is a genus of aquatic, mostly freshwater, plants of the family Potamogetonaceae. Most are known by the common name pondweed, although many unrelated plants may be called pondweed, such as Canadian pondweed (''Elodea canadensis' ...

'' spp.,Van den Berg, M. S., H. Coops, R. Noordhuis, J. Van Schie and J. Simons. 1995. ''Macroinvertebrate communities in relation to submerged vegetations in two Chara-dominated lakes''. Hydrobiologia 342-343:143-150.Van den Berg, M. S., R. Doef, F. Zant and H. Coops. 1997. ''Charophytes: clear water and macroinvertebrates in the lakes Veluwemeer and Wolderwijd''. Levende Natuur. 98(1):14-19. littoral habitats with high siltation rates,Smith, H., J.A. Van den Velden and A. Klinik. 1994. ''Macrozoobenthic assemblages in littoral sediments in the enclosed Rhine-Meuse delta''. Netherlands Journal of Aquatic Ecology 28(2):199-212. lentic and stagnant waters or slow streams,Frank, C. 1987. ''A contribution to the knowledge of Hungarian Mollusca part III''. Berichte des Naturwissenschaftlich-Medizinischen Vereins in Innsbruck 74:113-124. fine substrates (mud, silt and sand) – especially during hibernation, and aquatic macrophytes – for laying its egg masses. The snail appears to be somewhat resistant to declines in macrophyte cover, because populations have been recorded to survive in ponds after vegetation cover almost completely disappeared.Lodge, D. M. and P. Kelly. 1985. ''Habitat disturbance and the stability of freshwater gastropod populations''. Oecologia 68(1):111-117. This species is found at depths anywhere from 0.5 m to 23 m in the Great Lakes. In Europe, it usually is found in depths of up to 10 m. ''Valvata piscinalis'' tolerates varying

calcium Calcium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to it ...

concentrations, and generally does not require very high temperatures to survive. Individuals can overwinter in mud, often experiencing growth during this cold period,Chernogorenko, M. I. 1980. ''Seasonal dynamics of mollusk infestation by larvae and parthenitae in the Dnieper River Ukrainian-SSR USSR''. Vestnik Zoologii 5:53-56. although some populations may experience mortality in frozen littoral zones.Olson, T. I. 1984. ''Winter sites and cold-hardiness of two gastropod species in a boreal river''. Polar Biology 3(4):227-230. This species can tolerate salinities up to 0.2% and is distributed in northern parts of the Curonian Lagoon, where it experiences periodic intrusions of saline water for a few hours or days at a time.Bubinas, A. and G. Vaitonis. 2005. ''The structure and seasonal dynamics of zoobenthic communities in the northern and central parts of the Curonian lagoon''. Acta Zoologica Lituanica 15(4):297-304.Olenin, S. and D. Daunys. 2005. ''Invaders in suspension-feeding systems: variations along the regional environmental gradient and similarities between large basins''. Pp. 221-237 in R. Dame and S. Olenin, eds. The Comparative Roles of Suspension-Feeders in Ecosystems. NATO Science Series. Earth and Environmental Series 47.

Feeding habits

The species is an efficient feeder, grazing on epiphytic

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

and

detritus In biology, detritus ( or ) is organic matter made up of the decomposition, decomposing remains of organisms and plants, and also of feces. Detritus usually hosts communities of microorganisms that colonize and decomposition, decompose (Reminera ...

, and in more eutrophic environments is capable of

filter feeding Filter feeders are aquatic animals that acquire nutrients by feeding on organic matters, food particles or smaller organisms (bacteria, microalgae and zooplanktons) suspended in water, typically by having the water pass over or through a spe ...

on suspended organic matter and algae. ''Valvata piscinalis'' can also rasp off pieces of aquatic vegetation.

Life cycle

''Valvata piscinalis'' is known for its rapid growth and high

fecundity Fecundity is defined in two ways; in human demography, it is the potential for reproduction of a recorded population as opposed to a sole organism, while in population biology, it is considered similar to fertility, the capability to produc ...

. It reproduces as a

hermaphrodite A hermaphrodite () is a sexually reproducing organism that produces both male and female gametes. Animal species in which individuals are either male or female are gonochoric, which is the opposite of hermaphroditic. The individuals of many ...

, one individual acting as the male and the other as the female, and has no free larval stage. It may spawn 2 or 3 times in a year, laying up to 150 eggs at a time which are deposited on vegetation. Hatching normally occurs in 15–30 days. Individuals breed around the age of 1 and usually die at 13–21 months. In Europe, breeding occurs from April to September, occurring later at more northerly latitudes. Myzyk (2007)Myzyk S. (2007). "Life cycle of ''Valvata piscinalis'' (O. F. Müller, 1774) (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia) in the laboratory". '' Folia Malacologica'' 15(4): 145-174
PDF
described life cycle of ''Valvata piscinalis''.

Parasites

''Valvata piscinalis'' is a common first

intermediate host In biology and medicine, a host is a larger organism that harbours a smaller organism; whether a parasitic, a mutualistic, or a commensalist ''guest'' (symbiont). The guest is typically provided with nourishment and shelter. Examples include ...

for the parasitic trematode '' Echinoparyphium recurvatum'' and has also been shown to act as the first and second intermediate hosts to '' Echinoparyphium mordwilokoi'' in native environments in Europe.Evans, N. A., P. J. Whitfield and A. P. Dobson. 1981. ''Parasite utilization of a host community: the distribution and occurrence of metacercarial cysts of Echinoparyphium recurvatum (Digenea: Echinostomatidae) in seven species of mollusc at Harting Pond, Sussex''. Parasitology 83(1):1-12.Grabda-Kazubska, B. and V. Kiseliene. 1991. ''The life cycle of Echinoparyphium mordwilkoi Skrjabin, 1914 (Trematoda: Echinostomatidae)''. Acta Parasitologica Polonica 36(4):167-173.McCarthy, A. M. 1990. ''Speciation of echinostomes; evidence for the existence of two sympatric sibling species in the complex Echinoparyphium recurvatum Von Linstow, 1873 (Digenea: Echinostomatidae)''. Parasitology 101(1):35-42. * As second intermediate host for '' Cyanthocotyle bushiensis'' * As intermediate host for '' Syngamus trachea''''Syngamus trachea, Parasite species summary page''
, accessed 20 October 2008.

Other interspecific relationships

This snail has chemosensory perception, which allows it to detect nearby

leech Leeches are segmented parasitism, parasitic or Predation, predatory worms that comprise the Class (biology), subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the Oligochaeta, oligochaetes, which include the earthwor ...

es, and distinguish molluscivores from non-molluscivores, and thus it can close its operculum to avoid predation.Kelly, P.M. and J. S. Cory. 1987. ''Operculum closing as a defense against predatory leeches in four British freshwater prosobranch snails''. Hydrobiologia 144(2):121-124.

References

This article incorporates public domain text from: * Rebekah M. Kipp & Amy Benson. 2008. ''Valvata piscinalis''.

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...

Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL. Revision Date: 2/25/2007

External links

''Valvata piscinalis''
at

Animalbase AnimalBase is a project brought to life in 2004 and is maintained by the University of Göttingen, Germany. The goal of the AnimalBase project is to digitize early zoological literature, provide copyright-free open access to zoological works, and p ...

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1768673 Valvatidae Gastropods described in 1774 Palearctic molluscs Taxa named by Otto Friedrich Müller