Haloa japonica explained

Haloa japonica, common name the Japanese bubble snail, is a species of sea snail or bubble snail, a marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusc in the family Haminoeidae, one of the families of bubble snails.

Distribution

The species is found in the Pacific Ocean, Mediterranean and North Sea:

• Japan^{[1] [2]}
• Korea
• Hong Kong
• The Philippines
• Thailand
• Mediterranean Sea including Sète and Étang de Berre, France
• California and Washington, USA
• Southern British Columbia, Canada
• Taiwan
• Netherlands (incl. Zeeland)

Description

Their shells have length around 11 mm and width around 8 mm.^[3]

Parasites

The parasites of Haloa japonica include an avian schistosome, which has been implicated in human cercarial dermatitis in San Francisco Bay, California.^[4]

Further reading

• Gosliner T. M. & Behrens D. W. (2006). "Anatomy of an invasion: systematics and distribution of the introduced opisthobranch snail, Haminoea japonica Pilsbry, 1895 (Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia: Haminoeidae)". Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 57: 1003–1010.
• Hanson D., Cooke S., Hirano Y., Malaquias M.A. E., Crocetta F. & Valdés Á. (2013) "Slipping through the Cracks: The Taxonomic Impediment Conceals the Origin and Dispersal of Haminoea japonica, an Invasive Species with Impacts to Human Health". PLoS ONE 8(10): e77457.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Haloa rotundata (A. Adams, 1850) . https://web.archive.org/web/20160305015748/http://www.bioinfo.cn/db05/BjdwSpecies.php?action=view&id=10555. 《中国动物物种编目数据库》 . 中国科学院微生物研究所 . 中国科学院动物研究所 . 2016-03-05 . 2017-11-11 . zh-hans .
2. Web site: Haminoea japonica . Fofonoff . PW . Ruiz . GM . Steves . B . Simkanin . C . Carlton . JT . 2017 . . 2017-11-11 . en . 2017-11-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171112021501/https://invasions.si.edu/nemesis/calnemo/SpeciesSummary.jsp?TSN=567649 . dead .
3. Web site: Haminoea japonica . Fauna of China . zh-hans . 2017-12-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171212140730/http://zgdwz.lifescience.com.cn/info/101094 . 2017-12-12 . dead .
4. Brant S. V., Cohen A. N., James D., Hui L., Hom A. & Loker E. S. (2010) "Cercarial dermatitis transmitted by exotic marine snail". Emerging Infectious Diseases 16(9): 1357-1365. HTM, PDF.