Assiminea pecos

Assiminea pecos is a rare species of snail in the family Assimineidae known by the common name Pecos assiminea. It is native to New Mexico and Texas in the United States. Specimens known from Mexico are now treated as members of a separate species, Assiminea cienegensis.[2] The Pecos assiminea was federally listed as an endangered species of the United States in 2005.[3]

Assiminea pecos
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Caenogastropoda
clade Hypsogastropoda
clade Littorinimorpha
Superfamily:
Rissooidea
Family:
Assimineidae
Genus:
Assiminea
Species:
A. pecos
Binomial name
Assiminea pecos
Taylor, 1987

This snail was first described in 1987.[4] It is generally between 1 and 2 millimeters long. Little is known about its life history.[5]

This tiny snail lives in the Pecos River basin in eastern New Mexico and western Texas. It inhabits karst topography, such as caves, caverns, and springs. It lives in mud and mats of saturated vegetation with small amounts of running water. The snail can be found at six sites: four in the Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico, one site at Diamond Y Spring and its drainage in Pecos County, Texas, and one site at East Sandia Spring in Reeves County, Texas.[5]

Threats to this species and to other invertebrates living in the same habitat include the loss of the water sources that feed the karst cave network. This has been caused by the tapping of the aquifer beneath it; some areas have been drained dry. Diamond Y Spring and East Sandia Spring are in danger of being drained. The springs are also located in active oil and gas extraction regions, and pollution of the water is a threat. Fire is also a destructive force in the wildlife refuge habitat. The introduction of the decollate snail (Rumina decollata) is a potential threat, as it could be a predator upon the assiminea.[5]

References
  1. Mollusc Specialist Group (1996). Assiminea pecos. 2011 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Archived June 27, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Downloaded on 4 October 2011.
  2. Hershler, R., et al. (2007). Genetic and morphologic variation of the Pecos assiminea, an endangered mollusk of the Rio Grande region, United States and Mexico (Caenogastropoda: Rissooidea: Assimineidae). Hydrobiologia 579 317-35.
  3. USFWS. Listing Roswell springsnail, Koster's springsnail, Noel's amphipod, and Pecos assiminea as endangered with critical habitat; Final rule. Federal Register August 9, 2005.
  4. Taylor, D. W. (1987). Fresh-water molluscs from New Mexico and vicinity. New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources Bulletin 116: 1-50.
  5. USFWS. Assiminea pecos Five-year Review. December 2010.
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