Talk:New Zealand mud snail

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[edit] How long?

The article says "the New Zealand mud snail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum) is a small freshwater snail, 1-2mm in length". Really? First site I googled said they grew 11 to 12 mm in the USA. Any experts here? Moriori 04:26, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

Here are some US sites with pictures showing their size: [1] [2] [3] [4]. I'd say 1-2mm sounds right. -- Avenue 04:58, 6 April 2006 (UTC)
Can't argue with those pics, but still have a niggle after viewing this. Cheers. Moriori 05:37, 6 April 2006 (UTC)
Well, I should have read the text of #2 and #3 more carefully; they say 5 mm and 1/4 inch (6 mm). This agrees with your link, but doesn't seem to be reflected in the photos. Maybe the typical size is much smaller than the maximum. -- Avenue 08:20, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Merge with New Zealand Mudsnail

It seems pretty clear these articles should be merged, but what's the best title? Spacing in the name seems to vary (e.g. mudsnail [5] [6], mud snail [7] [8]). -- Avenue 19:21, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

Heh, well if that don't beat all, three articles on the same subject! Please excuse my sloppiness in not doing a complete search - google obviously wasn't giving any Wikipedia links to "mudsnail", and I didn't find it in any of the likely categories. As to which name is preferable, I can't find any express preference in online sources. (Species2000 even gives its name as "Jenkins spire shell"). I prefer to use the ISSG source as a baseline and go with mudsnail, but then I'm biased as I wrote that version of the article! On a related note, I notice that the taxonomies are different - most of the databases I've checked indicate that Neotaenioglossa is the appropriate Order. The picture is certainly a duplicate, and I'll go speedy the newer one now... Ziggurat 20:54, 4 May 2006 (UTC)
Mud snail please, as in New Zealand mud snail for the heading. "Mud snail" gets 767, 000 google hits. "Mudsnail" gets 21,400. Moriori 23:30, 4 May 2006 (UTC)
Is there a convention for capitalisation? I notice that NZ animals split both ways, with a strong tendency to capitalize (New Zealand flatworm vs. New Zealand Fur Seal, New Zealand Sea Lion, New Zealand Pelican, New Zealand Swan, New Zealand Raven). Ziggurat 23:43, 4 May 2006 (UTC) edit to add: the closest I could find is Wikipedia:Naming conventions (fauna)#Capitalization of common names of species, which is less than definitive although it gives a good rationalisation for capitalization. Ziggurat 23:48, 4 May 2006 (UTC)
Given that there's more than one "mud snail" from New Zealand, this strengthens the argument for capitalising the name (to make it clear we are talking about a particular species). -- Avenue 03:06, 5 May 2006 (UTC)
A merge to New Zealand Mud Snail then? I have no problems with that. Ziggurat 03:08, 5 May 2006 (UTC)
Avenue makes a good point. Proper names should always be capped IMMHO. Merge away. Moriori
Sounds good. I'll move this article to the new title (because this one has a longer history) and we can merge in the info from New Zealand Mudsnail. -- Avenue 03:37, 5 May 2006 (UTC)
I've merged the two articles, although some trimming is probably still needed to avoid repetition. More referencing would be useful too. -- Avenue 16:07, 5 May 2006 (UTC)