''Antrorbis breweri'', common name Manitou cavesnail, 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 ...

freshwater snail Freshwater snails are gastropod mollusks which live in fresh water. There are many different families. They are found throughout the world in various habitats, ranging from ephemeral pools to the largest lakes, and from small seeps and springs ...

with gills and an operculum, an aquatic

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

Lithoglyphidae Lithoglyphidae is a family of small freshwater snails with gills and an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks. This family is in the superfamily Truncatelloidea and in the clade Littorinimorpha (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by ...

. The specific name ''breweri'' is in honor of Dr. Stephen Brewer, the owner of Manitou Cave.

Distribution

This species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

in the United States, and it is known only from its type locality. The type locality is Manitou Cave, Little Wills Valley,

Coosa River The Coosa River is a tributary of the Alabama River in the U.S. states of Alabama and Georgia. The river is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 27, 2011 ...

Basin, Fort Payne, Alabama.

Description

The shape of the shell is discoidal. The shell has 2.5-3.0

whorls A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). Whorls in nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral d ...

. The width of the shell is 1.53-1.79 mm. The height of the shell is 0.80-0.98 mm. The length of the whole animal is 2.7-3.0 mm.

Ecology

''Antrorbis breweri'' lives in cool stream in Manitou Cave. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

References

External links

Species profile of Manitou cavesnail (''Antrorbis breweri'') at U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service webpage
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3176688, from2=Q28323677 Lithoglyphidae Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Endemic molluscs of the United States Endemic fauna of Alabama Cave snails Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN