Pyrgulopsis

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Pyrgulopsis
Apertural view of a shell of †Pyrgulopsis nevadensis.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Littorinimorpha
Family: Hydrobiidae
Subfamily: Nymphophilinae
Genus: Pyrgulopsis
Call & Pilsbry, 1886[1]
Diversity[2][3]
133 species

Pyrgulopsis is a genus of freshwater snails with a gill and an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Hydrobiidae.

The name Pyrgulopsis is composed from Pyrgula, another genus of snail, and opsis = aspect of.[1]

Description

Generic characters of the genus Pyrgulopsis are: the shell is minute, conically turreted, somewhat elongated, imperforate and unicarinate. The apex is acute. The aperture is ovate. The edge of the aperture, called the peritreme, is continuous.[1] The operculum is ovate, thin, corneous and spiral, with polar point well forward and approximating the columella.[1]

The jaw is thin and membranaceous.[1] The radula is odontophore, with teeth are arranged in transverse rows, according to the formula 3 + 1 + 3. Formula for denticles of rhachidian: 4 + 1 + 41 + 1.[1]

Distribution

The distribution of the genus Pyrgulopsis includes Western and South-western United States.[1] Snails of species in the genus Pyrgulopsis occur in fresh water and in brackish water.[1]

Species

Shells of Pyrgulopsis deserta.
A shell of Pyrgulopsis neomexicana.

Pyrgulopsis is the largest genus of freshwater gastropods in the North America. In 2014, 139 species were recognized in this genus.[4]

Species in the genus Pyrgulopsis include:[5]

Eastern North American species of Pyrgulopsis[20] are considered to be in separate genus Marstonia according to the Thompson and Hershler (2002).[21]

References

Further reading

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