''Physella wrighti'',

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 hotwater physa, 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

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 ...

Distribution

This species lives in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada, found only in the

Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. It is home to the second largest natural hot springs in Canada, after Deer River Hot Springs 15 km to the north east. It is a natural river of hot water rat ...

The Canadian

Species at Risk Act The ''Species at Risk Act'' (SARA) (the ''Act'') is a piece of Canadian federal legislation which became law in Canada on December 12, 2002. It is designed to meet one of Canada's key commitments under the International Convention on Biological D ...

listed it in the

List of Wildlife Species at Risk The List of Wildlife Species at Risk currently has more than 800 entries for Canadian wild life species considered vulnerable; including 363 classified as endangered species, —190 threatened species, —235 special concern, and 22 extirpated ( ...

as being endangered in Canada.COSEWIC. (2005)
Canadian Species at Risk
Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. 64 pp., page 13.

Habitat

''Physella wrighti'' requires an aquatic environment with year-round water temperature between . They live on substrates both above and below the water level. They prefer habitats of Chara mats, but can also be found on mats of green alga, woody debris, and stream beds.

References

Physidae Gastropods described in 1985 Endemic fauna of British Columbia Endemic fauna of Canada {{Physidae-stub