Bithynia leachii
Encyclopedia
Bithynia leachii is species
of small freshwater snail
with an operculum
, an aquatic
prosobranch gastropod mollusk in the family Bithyniidae
.
The shell
of the species grows to be 6.5 mm (one quarter inch) in maximum dimension.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of small freshwater snail
Freshwater snail
A freshwater snail is one kind of freshwater mollusc, the other kind being freshwater clams and mussels, i.e. freshwater bivalves. Specifically a freshwater snail is a gastropod that lives in a watery non-marine habitat. The majority of freshwater gastropods have a shell, with very few exceptions....
with an operculum
Operculum (gastropod)
The operculum, meaning little lid, is a corneous or calcareous anatomical structure which exists in many groups of sea snails and freshwater snails, and also in a few groups of land snails...
, an aquatic
Aquatic animal
An aquatic animal is an animal, either vertebrate or invertebrate, which lives in water for most or all of its life. It may breathe air or extract its oxygen from that dissolved in water through specialised organs called gills, or directly through its skin. Natural environments and the animals that...
prosobranch gastropod mollusk in the family Bithyniidae
Bithyniidae
Bithyniidae is a family of small freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod molluscs in the clade Littorinimorpha.Their minute shell is often colored. They are characterized by a calcareous operculum, a lobe on the upper surface of the neck. The ctenidium, the respiratory gill-comb, is...
.
Shell description
Gastropod shell
The gastropod shell is a shell which is part of the body of a gastropod or snail, one kind of mollusc. The gastropod shell is an external skeleton or exoskeleton, which serves not only for muscle attachment, but also for protection from predators and from mechanical damage...
of the species grows to be 6.5 mm (one quarter inch) in maximum dimension.
Distribution
- Czech Republic - near Morava River and near ThayaThayaThe Thaya is a river in Central Europe, tributary to the Morava River. It is about 235 km long and meanders from west to east in the border area between Lower Austria and South Moravia , but does not exactly follow the border in most parts...
(Dyje) river in southern Moravia, critically endangered (CR) - Germany - high endangered (Stark gefährdet)
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Slovakia
- Sweden
- Great Britain
- Ireland
- Hungary - see Glöer & Fehér (2004)
- ...
Habitat
This species requires clean, calcium-rich water, which is slow-running and thickly weeded.External links
- http://www.animalbase.uni-goettingen.de/zooweb/servlet/AnimalBase/home/species?id=2067