''Anguispira alternata'',
common name
In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...
the flamed disc or flamed tigersnail, is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of air-breathing
land snail
A land snail is any of the numerous species of snail that live on land, as opposed to the sea snails and freshwater snails. ''Land snail'' is the common name for terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells (those without shells are known as ...
, a
terrestrial pulmonate
Pulmonata or pulmonates, is an informal group (previously an order, and before that a subclass) of snails and slugs characterized by the ability to breathe air, by virtue of having a pallial lung instead of a gill, or gills. The group includ ...
gastropod
The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda ().
This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...
mollusk
Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...
in the family
Discidae
Discidae is a taxonomic family of small air-breathing land snails, terrestrial gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Punctoidea.
Genera
The family Discidae has no subfamilies. Genera within the family Discidae include:
* ''Anguispira'' Morse, ...
, the disk snails. Flamed discs are medium-sized snails, with shells ranging from 17 to 25 millimeters (0.67 to 0.98 inches) in diameter. They are found around logs, hollow trees, and rocks in wooded areas throughout eastern North America, ranging from New Brunswick, Canada, south to northern Florida, and west to northeastern Texas, Kansas and western Minnesota.
Flamed disks are
herbivores that feed on decaying plant material, fungi, and algae.
Parasites
Parasites of ''Anguispira alternata'' include:
* ''
Parelaphostrongylus tenuis
''Parelaphostrongylus tenuis'' (also known as meningeal worm or brainworm) is a neurotropic nematode parasite common to white-tailed deer, ''Odocoileus virginianus'', which causes damage to the central nervous system.
Moose (''Alces alces'') ...
''
Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is the agency of the state of Michigan charged with maintaining natural resources such as state parks, state forests, and recreation areas. It is governed by a director appointed by the Governor a ...
"Brainworm"
accessed 14 December 2010.
*
''Postharmostomum helicis''
References
Discidae
Molluscs of North America
Fauna of the Eastern United States
Fauna of the Great Lakes region (North America)
Gastropods described in 1816
{{Discidae-stub