Planorbis planorbis 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 air-breathing 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....

, 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...

 gastropod mollusk in the family Planorbidae

Planorbidae

Planorbidae, common name the ramshorn snails or ram's horn snails, is a family of air-breathing freshwater snails, aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusks....

, the ram's horn snails.

Description

This species, like all planorbids, has a sinistral shell. The width of the shell

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...

 is 15 - 20 mm. The keel

Keel (disambiguation)

Keel may be:* Keel, the central beam of the hull of a boatThis meaning has given rise to many other related uses of the word in biology and natural history, including:...

 is near the edge of the shell close to the spire side, which is carried downwards in life.

Distribution

This species is not listed in the IUCN red list

IUCN Red List

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...

 - not evaluated (NE)

• The Czech Republic - least concern (LC)
• Germany - not listed in red list
• Netherlands
• Poland
• Slovakia
• Great Britain
• Ireland
• Hungary

External links

• Pesticides Database - Chemical Toxicity Studies