''Succinea approximans'' 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 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 ...
, a
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 ...
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 ...
Succineidae
Succineidae are a family of small to medium-sized, air-breathing land snails (and slugs), terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Succineoidea.MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Succineidae Beck, 1837. Accessed thr ...
, the amber snails.
Distribution
The type locality is in
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
.
, the authority of this species mentioned six localities in his original description: "prope
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to:
Places Argentina
* San Juan Province, Argentina
* San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province
* San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province
* San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...
,
Fajardo
Fajardo (, ) is a town and municipality -Fajardo Combined Statistical Area.
Fajardo is the hub of much of the recreational boating in Puerto Rico and a popular launching port to Culebra, Vieques, and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. It is ...
,
Ceiba,
Humacao,
Luquillo et ad
Rio Blanco".
Other reports of ''Succinea approximans'' include:
*
Grenada
Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...
- occurs widely
[Charles L. (1 October 2009). "A contribution to the knowledge of land and freshwater Mollusca of Grenada (Lesser Antilles)". Société d’Histoire Naturelle L’Herminier, contribution to malacology # 1]
PDF
* "
Lesser Antilles
The Lesser Antilles ( es, link=no, Antillas Menores; french: link=no, Petites Antilles; pap, Antias Menor; nl, Kleine Antillen) are a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. Most of them are part of a long, partially volcanic island arc betwe ...
",
but not in
Dominica
Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...
[Robinson D. G., Hovestadt A., Fields A. & Breure A. S. H. (July 2009). "The land Mollusca of Dominica (Lesser Antilles), with notes on some enigmatic or rare species". '']Zoologische Mededelingen
''Zoologische Mededelingen'' was a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal publishing papers and monographs on animal systematics. The publisher was the National Museum of Natural History Naturalis in the Netherlands. The first issue appeared ...
'' 83 http://www.zoologischemededelingen.nl/83/nr03/a13
*
Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindian ...
[Sturrock R. F. (1974). "Ecological notes on habitats of the freshwater snail ''Biomphalaria glabrata'', intermediate host of ''Schistosoma mansoni'' on St. Lucia, West Indies". '']Caribbean Journal of Science
The ''Caribbean Journal of Science'' is a triannual peer-reviewed open-access scientific journal publishing articles, research notes, and book reviews related to science in the Caribbean, with an emphasis on botany, zoology, ecology, conservation b ...
'' 14(3-4): 149-162
PDF
Robinson et al. (2009) commented that it has not been reported from any intermediate islands.
They considered reports of this species by
Thomas B. Bland (1869)
[ Bland T. (1869). "Notes on the land-shells of Trinidad, Grenada and Dominica, and also of Curaçao and Buen Ayre, W.I." ''American Journal of Conchology'' 4: 177-192.] and
George French Angas
George French Angas (25 April 1822 – 4 October 1886), also known as G.F.A., was an English explorer, naturalist, painter and poet who emigrated to Australia. His paintings are held in a number of important Australian public art collections. ...
(1884)
[ Angas G. F. (1884). "On the terrestrial Mollusca of Dominica, collected during a recent visit to that island". ''Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London'' 1883: 594-597, figs. 1-3.] to be dubious.
Description
The dimensions of the
shell of the
type specimen
In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...
are as follows: the height of the shell is 12 mm; the width of the shell is 7 mm; the height of the aperture is 9 mm.
In Grenada, the height of the shell of this species is 10 mm.
Ecology
The
habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
of ''Succinea approximans'' ranges from relatively dry places to wet areas.
In Grenada, ''Succinea approximans'' lives among
leaf litter
Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that have fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituent ...
.
References
External links
* http://www.animalbase.uni-goettingen.de/zooweb/servlet/AnimalBase/home/speciestaxon?id=1163
distribution map
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7632679
Succineidae
Gastropods described in 1854