Pleuroceridae, common name pleurocerids, is a

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 ...

of small to medium-sized

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, aquatic gilled

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 superfamily

Cerithioidea The Cerithioidea is a superfamily of marine, brackish water and freshwater gastropod containing more than 200 genera. The Cerithoidea are included unassigned in the subclass Caenogastropoda. The original name of this superfamily was Cerithiacea, ...

.These snails have an operculum and typically a robust high-spired shell. Reproduction is

iteroparous Semelparity and iteroparity are two contrasting reproductive strategies available to living organisms. A species is considered semelparous if it is characterized by a single reproductive episode before death, and iteroparous if it is characteri ...

, and juvenile snails emerge from eggs laid on a firm surface by a

gonochoristic In biology, gonochorism is a sexual system where there are only two sexes and each individual organism is either male or female. The term gonochorism is usually applied in animal species, the vast majority of which are gonochoric. Gonochorism c ...

female. There is no veliger stage.

Distribution

As currently defined, this family is confined entirely to eastern North American fresh waters. Similar snails formerly classified with Pleuroceridae, but now assigned to other families are widespread in temperate and tropical parts of Southern and Eastern Asia, and Africa. Most require unpolluted rivers and streams, but a few are adapted to living in lakes or reservoirs.

Taxonomy

2005 taxonomy

The following two

subfamilies In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

have been recognized in the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005): * Pleurocerinae P. Fischer, 1885 - synonyms: Ceriphasiinae Gill, 1863; Strepomatidae Haldeman, 1864; Ellipstomatidae Hannibal, 1912; Gyrotominae Hannibal, 1912; Anaplocamidae Dall, 1921 * Semisulcospirinae Morrison, 1952 - synonym: Jugidae Starobogatov, Prozorova, Bogatov & Sayenko, 2004 (n.a.)

2009 taxonomy

Subfamily Semisulcospirinae within Pleuroceridae was elevated to family level

Semisulcospiridae Semisulcospiridae, common name semisulcospirids, is a family of freshwater snails, aquatic gilled gastropod mollusks with an operculum, in the superfamily Cerithioidea. MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Semisulcospiridae J. P. E. Morri ...

by Strong & Köhler (2009).

Genera

There is very high level of mitochondrial

heterogeneity Homogeneity and heterogeneity are concepts often used in the sciences and statistics relating to the uniformity of a substance or organism. A material or image that is homogeneous is uniform in composition or character (i.e. color, shape, siz ...

in apparent species of Pleuroceridae (highest among gastropods, also with

), that has not been sufficiently explained yet as of 2015.Whelan N. V. & Strong E. E. (2015). "Morphology, molecules and taxonomy: extreme incongruence in pleurocerids (Gastropoda, Cerithioidea, Pleuroceridae)". ''

Zoologica Scripta ''Zoologica Scripta'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal on systematic zoology, published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It was established in 197 ...

''> 26 pp. . Genera within the family Pleuroceridae are organized in the one subfamily only since 2009 and they include: Pleurocerinae * '' Pleurocera'' Rafinesque, 1818 - type genus of the family Pleuroceridae, * ''

Elimia ''Elimia'' is a genus of freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Pleuroceridae. Various species are found in creeks throughout much of the eastern and central United States and the Great Lakes region of Cana ...

'' H. Adams & A. Adams, 1854 synonyms:''Goniobasis'' Lea, 1862 * '' Athearnia'' Morrison, 1971 * † '' Gyrotoma'' Shuttleworth, 1845 * '' Io'' Lea, 1831 - with the only species '' Io fluvialis'' (Say, 1825) * ''

Leptoxis ''Leptoxis'' is a genus of freshwater snails with a gill and an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Pleuroceridae. Species within this genus inhabit rocky fast-flowing parts of unpolluted and unimpounded mid-sized rivers in t ...

'' Rafinesque, 1819 * '' Lithasia'' Haldeman, 1840

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3175524