Marstonia scalariformis

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Marstonia scalariformis
Drawing of apertural view of the shell of Marstonia scalariformis.

Critically Imperiled  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Littorinimorpha
Family: Hydrobiidae
Subfamily: Nymphophilinae
Genus: Marstonia
Species:
M. scalariformis
Binomial name
Marstonia scalariformis
(Wolf, 1869)[2]
Synonyms

Pyrgula scalariformis Wolf, 1869
Pyrgulopsis scalariformis (Wolf, 1869)
Pyrgula scalariformis var. mississippiensis Pilsbry, 1886
Pyrgulopsis mississippiensis Pilsbry, 1886

Marstonia scalariformis, previously known as Pyrgulopsis scalariformis, common name the moss pyrg, is a species of freshwater snail with a gill and an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusc in the family Hydrobiidae.

Shell description[edit]

The shell is turreted, slender. The shell has 6 whorls. The shell is chalky white in color. The suture is deeply impressed. The shell is carinate in its entire length on the lower edge of the whorls.[3]

The aperture is small, ovate, but slightly connected with the last whorl.[3]

The height of the shell is 12.7 mm (½ inch).[3]

Anatomy[edit]

The body of the animal is white.[4]

Distribution[edit]

Distribution of Marstonia scalariformis include Illinois,[5] Alabama,[6] Iowa and Missouri.[1]

This species was abundant on its type locality on the Tazewell shore of the Illinois River in 1880s.[3]

Conservation[edit]

This species is critically imperiled.[1]

References[edit]

This article incorporates public domain text from reference.[3]

  1. ^ a b c "Marstonia scalariformis". NatureServe Explorer An online encyclopedia of life. 7.1. NatureServe. Retrieved 24 July 2009.
  2. ^ Wolf (1869). Am. Jour. Conch. 5: p. 198, plate xvii, figure 3.
  3. ^ a b c d e Call R. E. & Pilsbry H. A. 1886. On Pyrgulopsis, a new genus of rissoid mollusk, with description of two new forms. Proceeding Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, volume V., page 9-14. Plate II., figure 13.
  4. ^ Hershler R. 1994. A review of the North American freshwater snail genus Pyrgulopsis (Hydrobiidae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, 554: 1–115, pp. 80–81.[dead link]
  5. ^ Aquatic Mollusca of Illinois, accessed 24 July 2009.[dead link]
  6. ^ Alabama State List of Endangered Mollusks, accessed 24 July 2009.[dead link]