Melampus bidentatus common name

Common name

A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...

 the "common marsh snail", or "eastern melampus", is a species

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, amphibious

Amphibious

Amphibious means able to use either land or water. In particular it may refer to:*Amphibious warfare, warfare carried out on both land and water*Amphibians, vertebrate animals of the Class Amphibia...

 air-breathing snail, a pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Ellobiidae

Ellobiidae

Ellobiidae is a family of small air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the clade Eupulmonata. This is the only family in the superfamily Ellobioidea, according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005)....

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Habitat

Minimum recorded depth is 0 m. Maximum recorded depth is 0 m. Like many others in the same family, this species of snail inhabits the high marsh

High marsh

High marsh is a tidal marsh zone located above the Mean Highwater Mark which, in contrast to the low marsh zone, is inundated infrequently during periods of extreme high tide and storm surge associated with coastal storms...

 zone of salt marshes

Salt marsh

A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...

. The native range of the snail is from the coast of Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

, Canada, to the Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 coast of the Gulf of Mexico

Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

. (Apley, 1970; Hilbish, 1981)

Adults of Melampus bidentatus can survive in a terrestrial environment but its larva

Larva

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

e require an aquatic habitat in order to survive.

The diet of this species consists of the decayed shoots of smooth cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora

Spartina alterniflora

Spartina alterniflora is a perennial deciduous grass which is found in intertidal wetlands, especially estuarine salt marshes. It grows 1-1.5 m tall, and has smooth, hollow stems which bear leaves up to 20-60 cm long and 1.5 cm wide at their base, which are sharply tapered and bend down...

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