''Pleurocera'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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 ...

s with an operculum, 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 ...

s in the family

Pleuroceridae Pleuroceridae, common name pleurocerids, is a family of small to medium-sized freshwater snails, aquatic gilled gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Cerithioidea.These snails have an operculum and typically a robust high-spired shell. Reprodu ...

.Neubauer, Thomas A. (2014). Pleurocera Rafinesque, 1818. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=820483 on 2014-11-25 ''Pleurocera'' is the

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearing type of a nominal f ...

of that family.

Distribution

All members of the genus ''Pleurocera'' are native to eastern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Description

All of the species in this genus have thick-walled high- spired shells, and some attain a length of over 4 cm. The shape of 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 ou ...

is elongate-conic or cylindrical. The

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

of the shell is often carinate or costate. The shell of larger species sometimes develops sculpturing and a small

siphonal canal The siphonal canal is an anatomical feature of the shells of certain groups of sea snails within the clade Neogastropoda. Some sea marine gastropods have a soft tubular anterior extension of the mantle called a siphon through which water is ...

siphonal notch A siphonal notch is a feature of the shell anatomy in some sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks. In these particular groups of sea snails the animal has a soft tubular anterior extension of the mantle called a siphon through which water is dra ...

at the base of 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 ...

. Opercula are paucispiral and

corneous Corneous is a biological and medical term meaning horny, in other words made out of a substance similar to that of horns and hooves in some mammals. The word is generally used to describe natural or pathological anatomical structures made out o ...

, but may be

vestigial Vestigiality is the retention, during the process of evolution, of genetically determined structures or attributes that have lost some or all of the ancestral function in a given species. Assessment of the vestigiality must generally rely on co ...

in some species, not completely closing the aperture. The soft parts of the animal usually have a gray or brown coloration, commonly speckled with orange. The similar genus ''

Juga ''Juga'' is a genus of freshwater snails with a gill and an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Semisulcospiridae. These snails are native to the rivers of the northwestern United States and adjacent British Columbia. Sever ...

'' has a

seminal receptacle Female sperm storage is a biological process and often a type of sexual selection in which sperm cells transferred to a female during mating are temporarily retained within a specific part of the reproductive tract before the oocyte, or egg, is f ...

, but ''Pleurocera'' has no seminal receptacle.

Species

Species within the genus ''Pleurocera'' include: (brackets needs to be checked, authorities according to the IUCN Red List may be incorrect) * ''

Pleurocera acuta ''Pleurocera acuta'', common name the sharp hornsnail, is a species of small freshwater snail with a gill and an operculum (gastropod), operculum, an aquatic animal, aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Pleuroceridae, the hornsnails. Shell ...

'' Rafinesque, 1831 - sharp hornsnail,

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

of the genus ''Pleurocera'' * ''Pleurocera alveare'' Conrad, 1834 -

rugged hornsnail The rugged hornsnail, scientific name ''Pleurocera alveare'', is a species of freshwater snail with an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Pleuroceridae. This species is endemic to the United States The United States ...

* ''Pleurocera annulifera'' Conrad, 1834 -

ringed hornsnail The ringed hornsnail, scientific name ''Pleurocera annulifera'', is a species of freshwater snail with an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Pleuroceridae. This species is endemic to the United States The United Sta ...

* ''Pleurocera brumbyi'' I. Lea, 1852 -

spiral hornsnail The spiral hornsnail, scientific name ''Pleurocera brumbyi'', is a species of freshwater snail with an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Pleuroceridae. This species is endemic to the United States The United States ...

* ''

Pleurocera catenaria ''Pleurocera'' is a genus of freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Pleuroceridae.Neubauer, Thomas A. (2014). Pleurocera Rafinesque, 1818. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www. ...

catenaria'' (Say, 1822) ** ''Pleurocera catenaria catenaria'' (Say, 1822) - synonyms: ''Pleurocera albanyensis'' (I. Lea, 1864), ''Pleurocera boykiniana'' (I. Lea, 1840), ''Pleurocera caelatura'', ''Pleurocera christyi'', ''Pleurocera darwini'', ''Pleurocera interrupta'' (Haldeman, 1840), ''Pleurocera lecontiana'', ''Pleurocera mutabilis'', ''Pleurocera postelli'', ''Pleurocera suturalis'', ''Pleurocera viennaensis'' ** ''Pleurocera catenaria dislocata'' (Ravenel, 1834) * ''Pleurocera corpulenta'' Anthony, 1854 -

corpulent hornsnail The corpulent hornsnail, scientific name ''Pleurocera corpulenta'', is a species of freshwater snail with an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Pleuroceridae. This species is endemic to the United States The United St ...

* ''Pleurocera curta'' Haldeman, 1841 - shortspire hornsnail * ''Pleurocera foremani'' I. Lea, 1843 - rough hornsnail * ''Pleurocera pyrenella'' Conrad, 1834 - skirted hornsnail * ''Pleurocera showalteri'' I. Lea, 1862 - upland hornsnail * ''Pleurocera walkeri'' Goodrich, 1928 - telescope hornsnail * '' Pleurocera canaliculata'' (Say, 1821) - Silty hornsnail, synonyms: ''Pleurocera nobile''"''Pleurocera canaliculata'' (Say 1821)"
FWGNA: Freshwater Gastropods of North America, accessed 21 February 2013. ;Species brought into synonymy: * ''Pleurocera costulatum'' Fuchs, 1870: synonym of † '' Goniochilus costulatus'' (Fuchs, 1870) * ''Pleurocera kochii'' Fuchs, 1870: synonym of † '' Goniochilus kochii'' (Fuchs, 1870) * ''Pleurocera radmanesti'' Fuchs, 1870: synonym of † '' Prososthenia radmanesti'' (Fuchs, 1870)

Ecology

Most species inhabit larger

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

s. ''Pleurocera'' snails are

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q3171700 Pleuroceridae Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque