''Aplexa rivalis'' 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 small air-breathing
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 ...
, an
aquatic 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
Physidae
Physidae, common name the bladder snails, is a monophyletic taxonomic family of small air-breathing freshwater snails, aquatic pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Lymnaeoidea .MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Physidae Fitzin ...
, a family which are sometimes known as the bladder snails.
Description
''Rivalis Aplexa'' has a thin shell levorotatory, featuring a large oval opening with parietal callus lip sharp and wide. The tentacles are filiform and foot is very long in the back. Ovigerous masses are constituted by transparent oval eggs variable number embedded in a gelatinous mass.
[Martínez E, Rafael y Miranda A, Rafael E. 1968. Aspectos de la reproducción en moluscos pulmonados del área metropolitana de Caracas. En: Estudio de Caracas. Ecología vegetal - fauna Vol:II pp:123=165. Universidad Central de Venezuela. Caracas-Venezuela.]
Distribution
This species occurs in:
*
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
[Martins R. T. & Alves R. da G. 2008]
''Occurrence of Naididae (Annelida: Oligochaeta) from three gastropod species in irrigation fields in southeastern Brazil''
Biota Neotropica, 8(3),
*
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
[Lutz, Adolfo 1928: Estudios de zoología y parasicología venezolana. Río de Janeiro.]
Ecology
''
Chaetogaster limnaei
''Chaetogaster'' is a genus belonging to the segmented worms ( Annelida). It is classified in the family Naididae (subfamily Naidinae) in the order Oligochaeta. These are ca. 2–25 mm long transparent worms that are very common in fresh wat ...
'' and ''
Nais communis'' were found to be associated with ''Aplexa rivalis'' in Brazil.
In Venezuela it is found inhabiting ornamental ponds in the leaves of plants and vegetable crops, and are common in
aquarium
An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...
shops.
See also
*
References
External links
ZipcodeZoo.com: ''Aplexa rivalis''
Biodiversity Heritage Library: ''Aplexa rivalis''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4779971
Physidae
Gastropods described in 1807
Taxa named by Thomas Rackett