Trinity bristle snail
| Monadenia setosa | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Suborder: | Eupulmonata |
| Infraorder: | Stylommatophora |
| (unranked): | clade Heterobranchia clade Euthyneura clade Panpulmonata clade Eupulmonata clade Stylommatophora informal group Sigmurethra |
| Superfamily: | Helicoidea |
| Family: | Monadeniidae |
| Genus: | Monadenia |
| Species: | M. setosa |
| Binomial name | |
| Monadenia setosa (Talmadge, 1952) | |
The Trinity bristle snail, scientific name Monadenia setosa, is a species of medium-sized, water-breathing, land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Monadeniidae.
In Roth and Sadeghian's "Checklist of the Land Snails and Slugs of California", this species is listed as Monadenia infumata setosa.
This is a threatened species.
Distribution
This species is endemic to California.
Habitat
This snail is found only in isolated locales along the Trinity River and nearby small creeks. It can only survive in cool, wet, shady riparian zones.
Life habits
The common name of this species comes from the fact that it has a coating of minuscule bristles on its inch-wide shell. These bristles often pick up bits of plant matter and dirt as the snail moves around, giving the snail a dirty, fuzzy look.
The Trinity bristle snail is dependent on cool, moist conditions, and therefore it is only active at night. It spends warmer parts of the day stuck to shady areas on tree trunks, and in especially warm parts of the summer it may not move for days. When conditions are cool enough it feeds on lichen and the tender parts of green plants. The snail has a lifespan of over ten years, and may not reach full size for nearly that long.
Survival threats
Human encroachment, including logging, mining, and damming, have reduced the snail's habitat to a few patches deep in the forest.