''Holospira'' is a genus 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 ...

s, 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 ...

mollusc 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 esti ...

s in the family Urocoptidae. Holospira elizabethae columella

''Holospira'' is the type genus of the subfamily 'Holospirinae Pilsbry, 1946'.

Etymology

''Holos'' (ὅλος) from Ancient Greek means "‘whole’" or "‘entire’" and ''spira'' (spīra) from Latin means spire.

Shell description

The shell is small, cylindric, terminating above in a conic spire, retaining all the

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 ...

, rimate or perforate. The shell has 11-21 whorls, which are closely coiled. The first 1½ of whorls are smooth. The rest of whorls are smooth, striate or ribbed. The suture is superficial.

Body whorl The body whorl is part of the morphology of the shell in those gastropod mollusks that possess a coiled shell. The term is also sometimes used in a similar way to describe the shell of a cephalopod mollusk. In gastropods In gastropods, the b ...

is more or less built forward. The aperture is small, obliquely pear-shaped, rounded or oval. The peristome is expanded or reflected, continuous and usually free throughout. The columella (internal column) is hollow, variously sculptured or smooth.

Anatomy

The foot is small, narrow for its length. The lung is long and narrow. Kidney is very narrowly triangular, being wider at the base, tapering anteriorly, slightly longer than the pericardium. There is apparently no secondary ureter. The buccal mass is small, about twice as long as wide, the oesophagus opening well forward. Salivary glands are not united, and in '' Holospira goldfussi'' they have long ducts. The jaw is thin, arcuate, with a wide median projection below or none. The

radula The radula (, ; plural radulae or radulas) is an anatomical structure used by molluscs for feeding, sometimes compared to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food ...

is about four times as long as wide, with from 19.1.19 teeth (in '' Holospira pilsbryi'') to 27.1.27 (in '' Holopsira nelsoni''). The genital system is like this: there is an atrium of moderate length, the penis is short, with a very long vas deferens, the retractor muscle (p. r.) being inserted at or just beyond the slightly swollen penis, and proximally attached to the floor of the lung, as usual. The free retractor muscles, attached proximally to the axis at about the junction of the cone with the cylindrical portion of the shell, are excessively long.

Distribution

The geographic range of this genus extends from southern Mexico to Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. These snails are not found in Lower California nor Guatemala on the southeast.

Habitat

They are confined chiefly to the elevated plateau, where they live under cacti, etc., in sunny places. These snails can tolerate great heat.

Henry Augustus Pilsbry Henry Augustus Pilsbry (7 December 1862 – 26 October 1957) was an American biologist, malacologist and carcinologist, among other areas of study. He was a dominant presence in many fields of invertebrate taxonomy for the better part of a centu ...

(1903) states, that living specimens of '' Holospira strobeliana'' and '' Holospira nelsoni'' survived immersion in boiling water for some minutes. Unlike other snails, they did not retract in the water.

Species

Species in the genus ''Holospira'' include: * '' Holospira acanthidia'' * '' Holospira aguerreverei'' * '' Holospira albertoi'' * '' Holospira alvarezensis'' * '' Holospira animasensis'' Gilbertson & Worthington, 2003 from subgenus '' Eudistemma'' * '' Holospira arizonensis'' Stearns, 1890 - Arizona holospira * '' Holospira aurantiaca'' * '' Holospira bilamellata'' Dall, 1895 - bilamellate holospira * '' Holospira bostrichocentrum'' * '' Holospira campestris'' Pilsbry & Ferriss, 1915 * '' Holospira campo'' * '' Holospira chazumbae'' * '' Holospira chiricahuana'' Pilsbry, 1905 - Cave Creek holospira * '' Holospira cionella'' Pilsbry, 1905 * '' Holospira cockerelli'' Dall, 1897 - Cockerell holospira * '' Holospira colymis'' * '' Holospira cremnobates'' * '' Holospira crossei'' Dall, 1895 - Cross holospira * '' Holospira dalli'' Pilsbry * '' Holospira danielsi'' Pilsbry & Ferriss, 1915 - strongrib holospira * '' Holospira denserpens'' * '' Holospira dentaxis'' * '' Holospira durangoensis'' * '' Holospira eburnea'' * ''

Holospira elizabethae ''Holospira elizabethae'' is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Urocoptidae. Paratypes of this species are in the collection of the Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam.Holospira fergusoni'' Gilbertson & Naranjo-García, 2010 * '' Holospira ferrissi'' Pilsbry, 1905 - stocky holospira * '' Holospira fortisculpta'' * '' Holospira goldfussi'' (Menke, 1847) - New Braunfels holospira ** '' Holospira goldfussi anacachensis'' BartschKathryn E. Perez. (last edited September 12, 2006
''Land Snail List for Texas''
. accessed 25 June 2009. * '' Holospira goldmani'' * † '' Holospira grangeri'' Cockerell - fossil species from Eocene of New Mexico known only from type localityJoseph H. Hartman. 1981
''Early Tertiary nonmarine Mollusca of New Mexico: A review''
GSA Bulletin, Geological Society of America, December 1981, 92(12): 942-950. . * '' Holospira haasai'' * '' Holospira hamiltoni'' Dall, 1897 - Hamilton holospira * '' Holospira haploplax'' * '' Holospira hinckleyi'' * '' Holospira hinkleyi'' * '' Holospira hoffmani'' * '' Holospira hogeana'' * '' Holospira hyperia'' * '' Holospira insolata'' * † '' Holospira leidyi'' (Meek) - synonym '' Pupa leidyi'' Meek - fossil species from Eocene of New Mexico * '' Holospira mariae'' * '' Holospira marmorata'' * '' Holospira maxwelli'' * '' Holospira mesolia'' Pilsbry, 1912 - widemouth holospira * '' Holospira metcalfi'' F. G. Thompson, 1974 - Metcalf holospira * '' Holospira milleri'' * '' Holospira millestriata'' Pilsbry & Ferriss, 1915 * '' Holospira millistriata'' * '' Holospira minima'' * '' Holospira montivaga'' Pilsbry, 1946 - vagabond holospira * '' Holospira morelosensis'' * '' Holospira nelsoni'' * '' Holospira odontoplax'' * '' Holospira orcutti'' * '' Holospira oritis'' Pilsbry & Cheatum, 1951 - mountain holospira * '' Holospira palmeri'' * '' Holospira pasonis'' Dall, 1895 - robust holospira * '' Holospira pedroana'' * '' Holospira pfeifferi'' * '' Holospira pilocerei'' Pfr. - type species * '' Holospira pilsbryi'' * '' Holospira pityis'' Pilsbry & Cheatum, 1951 - pinecone holospira * '' Holospira psectra'' * '' Holospira pupa'' * '' Holospira regis'' Pilsbry & Cockerell, 1905 - royal holospira * '' Holospira rehderi'' * '' Holospira remondii'' * '' Holospira rhinion'' * '' Holospira riograndensis'' Pilsbry, 1946 - Rio Grande holospira * '' Holospira saltillensis'' * '' Holospira scololaema'' * '' Holospira sherbrookei'' Gilbertson, 1989 - Silver Creek holospira * '' Holospira stalactella'' * '' Holospira stenopylis'' * '' Holospira stenopyus'' * '' Holospira tantalus'' Bartsch, 1906 - teasing holospira * '' Holospira temeroso'' * '' Holospira teotitlana'' * '' Holospira tryoni'' * '' Holospira whetstonensis'' Pilsbry & Ferriss, 1923 - Whetstone holospira * '' Holospira wilmotti'' * '' Holospira yucatanensis'' Bartsch, 1906 - Bartsch holospira * '' Holospira zygoptyx''

References

This article incorporates public domain text from reference.Pilsbry H. A. 1903. '' Manual of Conchology. Second series: Pulmonata''
Volume 15 Urocoptidaepage 66
67.

External links

* Tony Gallucci & James F. Scudday. 1979
''Holospira Mesolia (Urocoptidae) New to Brewster County, Texas''
The Southwestern Naturalist, 24(4): page 691. {{Taxonbar, from=Q3074524 Urocoptidae