Camptoceras terebra
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| Camptoceras terebra | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Shell of Camptoceras terebra (syntype at the Natural History Museum, London) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Superorder: | Hygrophila |
| Family: | Planorbidae |
| Genus: | Camptoceras |
| Species: | C. terebra |
| Binomial name | |
| Camptoceras terebra W. H. Benson, 1843[2] | |
Camptoceras terebra is a species of small freshwater snail, an aquatic gastropod mollusc in the family Planorbidae, commonly known as the ram’s horn snails. It is characterized by its coiled, sinistral (left-handed) shell and its association with slow-moving or stagnant freshwater habitats.
Camptoceras terebra was described by William Henry Benson in 1843. It is the type species for the genus Camptoceras.[2][3] This species has no taxonomic synonyms.[4] One source classifies the Japanese species Camptoceras hirasei as a subspecies of C. terebra (Camptoceras terebra hirasei).[1] One syntype (specimen used in Benson's original description) is in the collections of the Natural History Museum of London.[5]
Description
The shell of Camptoceras terebra is long and skinny, with a height of about 6 to 7 mm (0.24 to 0.28 in) and a diameter of about 3 mm (0.12 in). At maximum, the shell may reach about 9 mm (0.35 in) in height. The shell opening, called the aperture, is about 4 mm (0.16 in) in the largest dimension.[6] The revolutions of the shell, called whorls, curl to the left in a condition known as sinistry.[2] The whorls are few in number and are not fused.[7] A sculpture (3-dimensional protrusions of the shell) may be present in the form of varices. These varices are projections of the edge of the aperture at different points in the animal's life, and look similar to those found in the unrelated genus Epitonium.[2] The sculpture does not include spiral striae.[8]
This species possesses proportionally large eyes relative to its body, which are located between the tentacles. The foot, a muscular organ used for moving, is relatively short.[6]
