| Myxas glutinosa | |
|---|---|
| Four shells of Myxas glutinosa, scale bar in cm & mm | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): | clade Heterobranchia clade Euthyneura clade Panpulmonata clade Hygrophila |
| Superfamily: | Lymnaeoidea |
| Family: | Lymnaeidae |
| Subfamily: | Lymnaeinae |
| Genus: | Myxas |
| Species: | M. glutinosa |
| Binomial name | |
| Myxas glutinosa (O. F. Müller, 1774)[2] |
|
The glutinous snail, Myxas glutinosa is a species of small air-breathing freshwater snail, an aquatic gastropod mollusc in the family Lymnaeidae, the pond snails.
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This snail is unusual in that it extends its almost transparent mantle to completely cover the shell when it is in motion, giving the very small animal a glass-like appearance. It also makes the animal sticky to the touch, hence its common name.
This species is European: it is now rare in western Europe, and even rarer in eastern Europe.
According to the IUCN red list[1] it is also native to Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Russian Federation, Sweden and Ukraine.
This species requires pollution-free, extremely clear, calm water, in calcium-rich canals, streams and lakes.
It is rapidly declining or already extinct in many European countries, because of the loss of good habitat.