''Latia neritoides'' 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

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 ...

limpet Limpets are a group of aquatic snails that exhibit a conical shell shape (patelliform) and a strong, muscular foot. Limpets are members of the class Gastropoda, but are polyphyletic, meaning the various groups called "limpets" descended indep ...

, 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 ...

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 ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Latiidae ''Latia'' is a genus of very small, air-breathing freshwater snails or limpets, aquatic pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Chilinoidea. ''Latia'' is the only genus in the family Latiidae. Species in this genus are the only ...

. The type specimen is in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. The specific epithet "neritoides" means "like a nerite". The shell of this species has an internal shelf or lamella, but it more closely resembles a shell of a ''

Crepidula ''Crepidula'', commonly known as the slipper snails, slipper limpets, or slipper shells, is a genus of sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusks in the family Calyptraeidae. This family includes the slipper snails (''Crepidula''), hat ...

'' than it does a ''

Nerita ''Nerita'' is a genus of medium-sized to small sea snails with a gill and an operculum, marine gastropod molluscs in the subfamily Neritinae of the family Neritidae, the nerites.MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Nerita Linnaeus, 1758. A ...

''.

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 ...

to the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Habitat

This limpet lives in clean running streams and rivers. Powell A. W. B., ''New Zealand Mollusca'', William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979

Shell description

The length of the shell is up to 11 mm. The width of the shell is up to 8 mm. The height of the shell is up to 4.5 mm. If the length of the shell is 8.5 mm, the width of the shell is 6 mm. The height of the shell is 3 mm. The

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

is semiovate, thin and fragile, almost smooth, brown, semitransparent. Sculpture consisting of microscopic rather distant radiate striae, and fine dense concentric growth-lines. Colour pale to dark brown; interior dark brown in the centre, the lamina white.

Apex The apex is the highest point of something. The word may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional entities * Apex (comics), a teenaged super villainess in the Marvel Universe * Ape-X, a super-intelligent ape in the Squadron Supreme universe *Apex, ...

posterior, extending a little beyond the margin, with a spiral nucleus of 1

whorl 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 ...

, visible on the right side. The apex is generally on the left side, but sometimes near the middle of the posterior margin. The

aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An opt ...

is large, oval, the thin sharp margin generally rounded, but the posterior part of it is occasionally straightened and forming more or less distinct angles with the lateral sides, which themselves may become almost straight. The inside is polished. The lamella has the left attached end near the middle of the left margin, but the right free end does not extend beyond the posterior third of the length of the shell.

Anatomy

The animal has ringed filiform tentacles. The eyes are situated at the outer bases of the tentacles. The formula of the radula is 30 x 27 + 1 + 27. The central tooth is small and bicuspid. The lateral teeth increasing in size up to the 16th, and then diminish again, they have first 1, then 2, and near the margin 3 cusps. Further details on its morphology and internal anatomy are given in Meyer-Rochow & Moore

Bioluminescence

These animals are bioluminescent and highly

phosphorescent Phosphorescence is a type of photoluminescence related to fluorescence. When exposed to light (radiation) of a shorter wavelength, a phosphorescent substance will glow, absorbing the light and reemitting it at a longer wavelength. Unlike fluor ...

. This can easily be seen in the dark by disturbing the animals, or by adding a few drops of alcohol to the water. This is the only known freshwater gastropod that emits light. The light stems from a luminescent slime that is emitted by the snail when it gets disturbed or is attacked by a predator such as a crayfish, an eel, or even a dragonfly nymph. Further details on its ecology and general biology can be found in. Meyer-Rochow V. B. & Moore S. (1988) "Biology of ''Latia neritoides'' Gray 1850 (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Basommatophora): the Only Light-producing Freshwater Snail in the World". '' Internationale Revue der gesamten Hydrobiologie und Hydrographie'' 73(1): 21-42. . Latia

luciferin Luciferin (from the Latin ''lucifer'', "light-bearer") is a generic term for the light-emitting compound found in organisms that generate bioluminescence. Luciferins typically undergo an enzyme-catalyzed reaction with molecular oxygen. The result ...

is chemically (E)-2-methyl-4-(2,6,6-trimethyl-1-cyclohex-1-yl)-1-buten-1-ol formate. The chemical reaction is like this:EC 1.14.99.21
ORENZA: a database of ORphan ENZyme Activities, accessed 27 November 2009. Luciferin Latia reaction

XH₂ is a reducing agent. The reaction is catalyzed by the

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. A ...

luciferase Luciferase is a generic term for the class of oxidative enzymes that produce bioluminescence, and is usually distinguished from a photoprotein. The name was first used by Raphaël Dubois who invented the words ''luciferin'' and ''luciferase'', ...

and a purple protein.

References

This article incorporates public domain text from the reference Suter H. 1913
''Manual of the New Zealand Mollusca''
Wellington. page 616.

External links

New Zealand Mollusca

External and internal view of a shell

{{DEFAULTSORT:Latia Neritoides Latiidae Bioluminescent molluscs Gastropods described in 1850 Taxa named by John Edward Gray Freshwater molluscs of Oceania