Vertigo is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of minute, air-breathing land snail

Land snail

A land snail is any of the many species of snail that live on land, as opposed to those that live in salt water and fresh water. Land snails are terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells, It is not always an easy matter to say which species are terrestrial, because some are more or less...

s, terrestrial

Terrestrial animal

Terrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land , as compared with aquatic animals, which live predominantly or entirely in the water , or amphibians, which rely on a combination of aquatic and terrestrial habitats...

 pulmonate gastropod molluscs or micromollusk

Micromollusk

A micromollusk is a descriptive term for a shelled mollusk which is extremely small, even at full adult size. The word is usually, but not exclusively, applied to marine mollusks, although in addition, numerous species of land snails and freshwater mollusks also reach adult size at very small...

s in the family Vertiginidae

Vertiginidae

Vertiginidae is a family of minute, air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs or micromollusks in the superfamily Pupilloidea.- Distribution :...

, the vertigo snails.

Distribution

Distribution of the genus Vertigo include Europe, northern Asia, eastern Asia, Japan, Central and North America, Caribbean and Bermudas.

Shell description

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 deeply rimate and ovate. The apex

Apex (mollusc)

Apex is an anatomical term for the tip of the mollusc shell of a gastropod, scaphopod, or cephalopod mollusc.-Gastropods:The word "apex" is most often used to mean the tip of the spire of the shell of a gastropod...

 is acuminate and obtuse. The shell has 5-6 whorls

Whorl (mollusc)

A whorl is a single, complete 360° revolution or turn in the spiral growth of a mollusc shell. A spiral configuration of the shell is found in of numerous gastropods, but it is also found in shelled cephalopods including Nautilus, Spirula and the large extinct subclass of cephalopods known as the...

. The last whorl

Body whorl

Body whorl is part of the morphology of a coiled gastropod mollusk.- In gastropods :In gastropods, the body whorl, or last whorl, is the most recently-formed and largest whorl of a spiral or helical shell, terminating in the aperture...

 is rounded. The aperture

Aperture (mollusc)

The aperture is an opening in certain kinds of mollusc shells: it is the main opening of the shell, where part of the body of the animal emerges for locomotion, feeding, etc....

 is semioval with 4 to 7 folds. The peristome is scarcely expanded and white-lipped.

Anatomy

The animal in the genus Vertigo has no oral tentacle

Tentacle

A tentacle or bothrium is one of usually two or more elongated flexible organs present in animals, especially invertebrates. The term may also refer to the hairs of the leaves of some insectivorous plants. Usually, tentacles are used for feeding, feeling and grasping. Anatomically, they work like...

s.

Jaw is arched, ends squarely truncated, anterior surface striate, cutting edge with median projection. Radula

Radula

The radula is an anatomical structure that is used by molluscs for feeding, sometimes compared rather inaccurately to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food enters the esophagus...

 is with a central tooth almost
square, tricuspid, as large as or larger than the laterals, which are similar, narrower, and bi- or tricuspid. The marginal teeth are low, wide and serrated.

Species

Species in the genus Vertigo include:

subgenus Vertigo O. F. Müller, 1774

• Vertigo alpestris
  Vertigo alpestris
  Vertigo alpestris is a species of minute, air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs or micromollusks in the family Vertiginidae, the vertigo snails.- Shell description :...
  
  Alder, 1838 - tundra vertigo
• Vertigo andrusiana Pilsbry, 1899
• Vertigo antivertigo
  Vertigo antivertigo
  Vertigo antivertigo is a species of minute air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk or micromollusk in the family Vertiginidae.- Distribution :This species occurs in countries and islands including:* Czech Republic...
  
  (Draparnaud
  Jacques Philippe Raymond Draparnaud
  Jacques Philippe Raymond Draparnaud was a French naturalist, malacologist and botanist.Draparnaud is considered the father of malacology in France...
  
  , 1801)
• Vertigo arctica
  Vertigo arctica
  Vertigo arctica is a species of minute air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Vertiginidae.- Distribution :* Poland - critically endangered- Shell description :...
  
  (Wallenberg, 1858)
• Vertigo arthuri
  Vertigo arthuri
  Vertigo arthuri is a species of gastropod in the Vertiginidae family. It is endemic to the United States....
  
  Von Martens, 1882
• Vertigo binneyana Sterki, 1890
• Vertigo bollesiana
  Vertigo bollesiana
  Vertigo bollesiana, common name the delicate vertigo snail, is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Vertiginidae....
  
  (Morse, 1865) - Delicate vertigo snail
• Vertigo botanicorum Horsak & Pokryszko, 2010
• Vertigo columbiana Pilsbry & Vanatta, 1900
• Vertigo cristata Sterki, 1919
• Vertigo elatior Sterki, 1894
• Vertigo extima
  Vertigo extima
  Vertigo extima is a species of small land snail from the family Vertiginidae.-External links:* http://www.animalbase.uni-goettingen.de/zooweb/servlet/AnimalBase/home/species?id=3875...
  
  (Westerlund, 1877)
• Vertigo genesii
  Vertigo genesii
  Vertigo genesii, common name the round-mouthed whorl snail, is a species of small land snail from the family Vertiginidae.- Shell description :The shell is very small, ovate, obtuse, indistinctly, spaced striate, glossy purplish brown...
  
  (Gredler, 1856) - Round-mouthed Whorl Snail
• Vertigo geyeri
  Vertigo geyeri
  Vertigo geyeri is a species of small land snail from the family Vertiginidae. It lives in marshes.The specific name geyeri is in honor of German zoologist David Geyer .-Distribution and conservation status:...
  
  Lindholm, 1925
• Vertigo gouldii
  Vertigo gouldii
  Vertigo gouldii, common name the variable vertigo, is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Vertiginidae....
  
  (Binney, 1843)
• Vertigo heldi
  Vertigo heldi
  Vertigo heldi is a species of small land snail from the family Vertiginidae.-Distribution :* Austria* Bavaria in Germany* Switzerland- Shell description :...
  
  Clessin, 1877
• Vertigo lilljeborgi
  Vertigo lilljeborgi
  Vertigo lilljeborgi is a species of minute land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk or micromollusk in the family Vertiginidae, the vertigo snails.-Distribution:...
  
  (Westerlund, 1871)
• Vertigo milium
  Vertigo milium
  Vertigo milium, common name the blade vertigo, is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Vertiginidae.- Shell description :...
  
  (Gould, 1840) - Blade Vertigo
• Vertigo modesta
  Vertigo modesta
  Vertigo modesta, common name cross vertigo, is a species of very small air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk or micromollusk in the family Vertiginidae, the vertigo snails.-Distribution:...
  
  (Say, 1824) - cross vertigo
• Vertigo morsei Sterki, 1894
• Vertigo nylanderi Sterki, 1909
• Vertigo moulinsiana (Dupuy, 1849) - Desmoulin's whorl snail
  Desmoulin's whorl snail
  Desmoulin's whorl snail, scientific name Vertigo moulinsiana, is a species of minute air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc or micromollusc in the family Vertiginidae, the vertigo snails....
  
  
• Vertigo oughtoni Pilsbry, 1948
• Vertigo ovata
  Vertigo ovata
  Vertigo ovata, common name the ovate vertigo, is a species of gastropod in the Vertiginidae family....
  
  (Say, 1822) - ovate vertigo
• Vertigo paradoxa
  Vertigo paradoxa
  Vertigo paradoxa is a species of gastropod in the Vertiginidae family. It is found in Canada and the United States....
  
  Sterki in Pilsbry, 1900
• Vertigo perryi Sterki 1905
• Vertigo pusilla
  Vertigo pusilla
  Vertigo pusilla is a species of minute air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk or micromollusk in the family Vertiginidae.Vertigo pusilla is the type species of the genus Vertigo.- Shell description :...
  
  O. F. Müller, 1774 - type species
• Vertigo pygmaea
  Vertigo pygmaea
  Vertigo pygmaea, common name the "crested vertigo", is a species of minute air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Vertiginidae.- Shell description :...
  
  (Draparnaud
  Jacques Philippe Raymond Draparnaud
  Jacques Philippe Raymond Draparnaud was a French naturalist, malacologist and botanist.Draparnaud is considered the father of malacology in France...
  
  , 1801) - crested vertigo
• Vertigo ronnebyensis
  Vertigo ronnebyensis
  Vertigo ronnebyensis is a species of small land snail from the family Vertiginidae.- Shell description :Shell is deeply perforate, long-ovate, regularly finely striate, very glossy and reddish-brown in color. The shell has 5½ convex whorls. The last whorl is about equal to the penult, which is a...
  
  (Westerlund, 1871)
• Vertigo substriata
  Vertigo substriata
  Vertigo substriata is a species of minute air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk or micromollusk in the family Vertiginidae.- Distribution :The type locality is the Barnstaple district, in Devonshire, England...
  
  (Jeffreys, 1833)
• Vertigo tridentata Wolf, 1870
• Vertigo ventricosa
  Vertigo ventricosa
  Vertigo ventricosa, common name the five-tooth vertigo, is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Vertiginidae....
  
  (E. S. Morse, 1865)

subgenus Vertilla Moquin-Tandon, 1856

• Vertigo angustior
  Vertigo angustior
  The narrow-mouthed whorl snail, scientific name Vertigo angustior, is a species of minute land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk or micromollusk in the family Vertiginidae.- Distribution :* IUCN red list - conservation dependent...
  
  Jeffreys, 1830 - Narrow-mouthed Whorl Snail

subgenus ?

• Vertigo alabamensis G. Clapp, 1915 - Alabama Vertigo
• Vertigo conecuhensis G. Clapp, 1915
• Vertigo cubana Crosse, 1890
• Vertigo eogea
  • Vertigo eogea stagnalis
• Vertigo hachijoensis
• Vertigo hebardi
  Vertigo hebardi
  Vertigo hebardi is a species of gastropod in the Vertiginidae family. It is endemic to the United States....
  
  Vanetta, 1912
• Vertigo hirasei
• Vertigo hubrichti Pilsbry, 1934
• Vertigo japonica
• Vertigo kushiroensis
• Vertigo meramecensis Van Devender, 1979
• Vertigo neglecta Arango in Poey, 1856
• Vertigo oralis Sterki, 1890 - Palmetto Vertigo
• Vertigo oscariana Sterki, 1890 - Capital Vertigo
• Vertigo occulta
  Vertigo occulta
  Vertigo occulta is a species of gastropod in the Vertiginidae family. It is endemic to the United States....
  
  Vanetta, 1912
• Vertigo parcedentata
  Vertigo parcedentata
  Vertigo parcedentata is a species of small land snail from the family Vertiginidae.-Distribution :Recent distribution include Norway.Fossil distribution include also other parts of Europe from the Netherlands to Ukraine: Pleistocene and alluvium of the Rhine valley in Germany, Czech Republic,...
  
  (Braun, 1847)
• Vertigo pseudosubstriata Ložek, 1954
• Vertigo rugosula Sterki, 1890 - Striate Vertigo
• Vertigo teskeyae Hubricht, 1961 - Swamp Vertigo
• Vertigo torrei Aguayo & Jaume, 1934

Further reading

• Speight M. C. D., Moorkens E. A. & Falkner G. (2003). Proceedings of the workshop on conservation biology of European Vertigo species.
• Myzyk S. (2005). "Egg structure of some vertiginid species (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Vertiginidae)". Folia Malacologica 13: 169. (open access with registration required)

External links

• gallery of selected Vertigo species
• http://www.biolib.cz/en/taxon/id2689