Physella acuta

Physella acuta is a species of small, left-handed or sinistral, air-breathing freshwater snail, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Physidae. Common names include European physa, tadpole snail, bladder snail, and acute bladder snail. In addition, Physa acuta, Physa heterostropha (Say, 1817) and Physa integra (Haldeman, 1841) are synonyms of Physella acuta (Draparnaud, 1805).

Physella acuta
A live individual of Physella acuta
NE[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Hygrophila
Superfamily:
Lymnaeoidea
Family:
Physidae
Subfamily:
Physinae
Tribe:
Physellini
Genus:
Physella
Species:
P. acuta
Binomial name
Physella acuta
(Draparnaud, 1805)[2]
Synonyms

Physa acuta Draparnaud, 1805
Physella heterostropha (Say, 1817)[3]
Physella integra (Haldeman, 1841)[3]
Physa globosa Haldeman, 1841
Haitia acuta

Shell description
Shell of Physella acuta

Snails in the family Physidae have shells that are sinistral, which means that if the shell is held with the aperture facing the observer and the spire pointing up, then the aperture is on the left-hand side.

The shells of Physella species have a long and large aperture, a pointed spire, and no operculum. The shells are thin and corneous and rather transparent.

Distribution

It was once thought that the indigenous distribution of Physella acuta is Mediterranean.[4][5] However, when Physella heterostropha is considered to be a synonym, then the indigenous distribution of the species includes North America.[6]

Physella acuta is a common species which is common in all of North America and Europe. The species seems to have first spread through the Mediterranean regions and then more slowly into Northern Europe.[3][6]

In Europe

This species is found in:

The distribution also includes Mediterranean regions and Africa.[11]

In America

The distribution includes the United States: Maryland, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Virginia.[11]

Ecology

Habitat

This species lives in freshwater rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, and swamps.[11]

Physella acuta is frequently found in anthropogenic reservoirs, occurring in warm water discharges from power stations and in some rivers, but very rarely and not numerously in clay pit ponds. It can survive well under temporary harsh conditions (extreme temperature and water pollution), as long as they are short-lived.[6]

Feeding habits

These snails eat dead plant and animal matter and various other detritus.

Because Physella acuta forages mainly on epiphytic vegetation and on the macrophytes, whereas other gastropods (Planorbis planorbis, Radix ovata) exploit the algal cover or phytobentos on the bottom, competition between Physella acuta and other gastropods appears to be minimal.[6]

Interspecific relationship

This species successfully co-exists with other alien gastropods: for example with Potamopyrgus antipodarum in many streams, lakes and ponds in New Zealand and with Lithoglyphus naticoides in the Danube River.[6]

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References

This article incorporates CC-BY-2.0 text (but not under GFDL) from reference.[6]

  1. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Cited 30 April 2007.
  2. Draparnaud J.-P.-R. 1805. Histoire naturelle des mollusques terrestres et fluviatiles de la France. Ouvrage posthume. Avec XIII planches. pp. [1-9], j-viij [= 1-8], 1-134, [Plates 1-13]. Paris, Montpellier. (Plassan, Renaud).
  3. Dillon R. T., Wethington A. R., Rhett J. M. & Smith T. P. 2002. Populations of the European freshwater pulmonate Physa acuta are not reproductively isolated from American Physa heterostopha or Physa integra. Invertebrate Biology, 121: 226-234. (abstract)
  4. (in Slovak) Lisický M. J. (1991). Mollusca Slovenska [The Slovak molluscs]. VEDA vydavateľstvo Slovenskej akadémie vied, Bratislava, 344 pp.
  5. Glöer, P. 2002 Die Süßwassergastropoden Nord- und Mitteleuropas. Die Tierwelt Deutschlands, ConchBooks, Hackenheim, 326 pp., ISBN 3-925919-60-0, page 238-239.
  6. Vitaliy Semenchenko, Tatiana Laenko & Vladimir Razlutskij. 2008. A new record of the North American gastropod Physella acuta (Draparnaud 1805) from the Neman River Basin, Belarus. Aquatic Invasions (2008) Volume 3, Issue 3: 359-360.
  7. (in Czech) Horsák M., Juřičková L., Beran L., Čejka T. & Dvořák L. (2010). "Komentovaný seznam měkkýšů zjištěných ve volné přírodě České a Slovenské republiky. [Annotated list of mollusc species recorded outdoors in the Czech and Slovak Republics]". Malacologica Bohemoslovaca, Suppl. 1: 1-37. PDF.
  8. Beran, L. (2002) Vodní měkkýši České Republiky - rozšíření a jeho změny, stanoviště, šíření, ohrožení a ochrana, červený seznam. Aquatic molluscs of the Czech Republic - distribution and its changes, habitats, dispersal, threat and protection, Red List. - Sborník přírodovědného klubu v Uherském Hradišti, Supplementum 10, 258 pp. (in Czech)
  9. MollBase - Physella acuta - Spitze Blasenschnecke - Atlas 1991
  10. "Physella acuta". 2005.
  11. Amy Benson. 2007. Physella acuta. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL. https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?speciesID=1025 Revision Date: 4/22/2004
  12. Vázquez A. A. & Perera S. (2010). "Endemic Freshwater molluscs of Cuba and their conservation status". Tropical Conservation Science 3(2): 190-199. HTM, PDF.

Further reading
  • Naranjo-García E. & Appleton C. C. (2009). "The architecture of the physid musculature of Physa acuta Draparnaud, 1805 (Gastropoda: Physidae)". African Invertebrates 50(1): 1-11. Abstract
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