Biology:Ecrobia truncata

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Short description: Species of gastropod

Ecrobia truncata
Ecrobia truncata (YPM IZ 033794).jpeg
Ecrobia truncata
Scientific classification edit
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Littorinimorpha
Family: Hydrobiidae
Genus: Ecrobia
Species:
E. truncata
Binomial name
Ecrobia truncata
(Vanatta, 1924)
Synonyms[1]
  • Hydrobia minuta (Totten, 1834) (preoccupied name)
  • Hydrobia totteni Morrison, 1954
  • Hydrobia truncata (Vanatta, 1924)

Ecrobia truncata, common name the truncated marsh hydrobia or minute hydrobia, is a species of very small aquatic snail, an operculate gastropod mollusk in the family Hydrobiidae.[1]

Distribution

This species can be found along the coasts of Virginia, Massachusetts and Canada , the Northwest Atlantic Ocean and along the coasts of the British Isles and Scandinavia and in the Mediterranean Sea.

Description

The maximum recorded shell length is 5.8 mm.[2] The small shell is elongate to ovate. Its color varies between pale brown and grayish with a glassy shine. The round whorls are smooth with deep sutures. The apex is in many cases eroded. The ovate aperture is characterized by a marked lip edge.

The dark brown to almost black head shows white spots on the tentacles and on the neck and a black spot in front of each eye.

Habitat

Minimum recorded depth is 0 m.[2] Maximum recorded depth is 3.7 m.[2] The minute hydrobia can be found on seaweeds and mud close to the banks of brackish marshes and estuaries.

Biology

The minute hydrobia is a secondary host of a parasitic fluke, Homalometron pallidum. This has a complex life cycle with the adult phase being found in a small fish, the mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus.[3]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Ecrobia truncata (Vanatta, 1924). Rosenberg, G. (2010). Ecrobia truncata (Vanatta, 1924). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=159879 on 15 June 2011 .
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Welch J. J. (2010). "The "Island Rule" and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". PLoS ONE 5(1): e8776. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008776.
  3. Stunkard, Horace W. (1964). "The morphology, life history and systematics of the digenetic trematode Homalometron pallidum Stafford 1904". The Biological Bulletin 126 (1): 163–173. doi:10.2307/1539426. http://www.biolbull.org/content/126/1/163.full.pdf. 
  • Field Guide to North American Seashells, The national Audubon Society, May 1996, ISBN:0-394-51913-2

Further reading

  • Abbott, R.T. (1974). American Seashells. 2nd ed. Van Nostrand Reinhold: New York, NY (USA). 663 pp
  • Linkletter, L.E. 1977. A checklist of marine fauna and flora of the Bay of Fundy. Huntsman Marine Laboratory, St. Andrews, N.B. 68 p.
  • Bromley, J.E.C., and J.S. Bleakney. 1984. Keys to the fauna and flora of Minas Basin. National Research Council of Canada Report 24119. 366 p.
  • Davis G. M., McKee M. & Lopez G. (1989). "The identity of Hydrobia truncata (Gastropoda, Hydrobiinae) — comparative anatomy, molecular-genetics, ecology". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 141: 333–359
  • Brunel P., Bosse L. & Lamarche G. (1998). "Catalogue of the marine invertebrates of the estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence". Canadian Special Publication of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 126: 405 p.
  • Trott, T.J. 2004. Cobscook Bay inventory: a historical checklist of marine invertebrates spanning 162 years. Northeastern Naturalist (Special Issue 2): 261 - 324.

External links

Wikidata ☰ Q3138370 entry