Vespericolini, or hesperians, are a tribe of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the family Polygyridae.
| Vespericolini | |
|---|---|
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| Drawing: three views of a shell of Vespericola columbiana from W. G. Binney, 1878[1] | |
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| Photograph: three views of a shell of Vespericola armigera | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Order: | Stylommatophora |
| Family: | Polygyridae |
| Subfamily: | Triodopsinae |
| Tribe: | Vespericolini Kenneth C. Emberton, 1995 |
It contains two genera: Vespericola and Hochbergellus.[2]
Habitat
editThese snails are found along the Pacific Coast of North America, with Vespericola found from southern Alaska and British Columbia to California, and Hochbergellus found only in coastal Oregon.[3][4]
Anatomy
editThe shells of these small to medium, globose or depressed globose snails are usually some shade of brown, sometimes without apertural teeth and sometimes with a single tooth on the parietal wall. Small periostracal hairs may be observed on the shell surface of many specimens, but the shells otherwise resemble those of Praticolella or Mesodon.[3]
The two genera, Vespericola and Hochbergellus, cannot be distinguished based on shell anatomy. They can only be distinguished by examining internal organs, such as the reproductive system.[4]
References
edit- ↑ Binney, William G. (1878). The Terrestrial Air-Breathing Mollusks of the United States and Adjacent Territories of North America. Vol. 5 (plates). Bull. Mus. Comparative Zool., Harvard. Plate 13a.
- ↑ Emberton, Kenneth C. 1995. When shells do not tell: 145 million years of evolution in North America's polygyrid land snails, with a revision and conservation priorities. Malacologia. 37(1): 69-110.
- 1 2 Pilsbry, Henry A. 1940. Land Mollusca of North America (North of Mexico). Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Monograph 3, vol. 1(2): 892-912.
- 1 2 Roth, B. and W. B. Miller. 1992. A New Genus and Species of Polygyrid Land Snail (Gastropoda: Pulmonata) from Oregon. The Veliger 35(3): 222-225. available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42467292