Planorbella

Planorbella
Planorbella trivolvis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Hygrophila
Superfamily: Planorboidea
Family: Planorbidae
Genus: Planorbella
Haldeman, 1843[1]

Planorbella is a genus of freshwater air-breathing snails, aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Planorbidae, the ram's horn snails, or planorbids, which all have sinistral, or left-coiling, shells.

Ecology

Species in this genus are sometimes hosts for parasites, constituting a link in the pathway of infection for higher animals. For example, some species of Planorbella host rediae and cercariae stages of the parasite Ribeiroia, prior to ultimate infection of the Rough-skinned Newt.[2]

Planorbella are often algae grazers, and in some locations such as oligotrophic sloughs, they may be a dominant element of total ecosystem biomass and hence system integrity.[3]

Species

Species within the genus Planorbella include:

References

  1. Haldeman (1843). Mon. Fresh Water univ. Moll. U.S. (6): 14.
  2. C. Michael Hogan (2008) Rough-skinned Newt ("Taricha granulosa"), GlobalTwitcher, ed. N. Stromberg
  3. Curtis J. Richardson (2008) The Everglades Experiments: Lessons for Ecosystem Restoration
  4. Bogan A. E. (1996). Planorbella magnifica. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 7 August 2007.
  5. Bogan A. E. (2000). Planorbella multivolvis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 7 August 2007.

External links