Juga Explained

Juga is a genus of freshwater snails with a gill and an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Semisulcospiridae.

These snails are native to the rivers of the northwestern United States and adjacent British Columbia. Several species are endemic to isolated large springs in the American Great Basin.^[1]

The most abundant and widespread species, Juga plicifera, attains a height of up to 35 mm. It is sculpted with fine spiral ridges and variably developed ribs that frequently disappear in parts of the shell made as the animal matures.

Species

The following species and subspecies are recognized:

Subgenus Juga s.s.

• Juga hemphilli (J. Henderson, 1935)^[2]
  • Juga hemphilli dallesensis (J. Henderson, 1935)^[2]
  • Juga hemphilli maupinensis (J. Henderson, 1935)
• Juga plicifera (I. Lea, 1838)^[2]
• Juga silicula (Gould, 1847)^[2]

Subgenus Calibasis

• Juga acutifilosa (Stearns, 1890)^[2]
  • Juga acutifilosa pittensis^[2]
  • Juga acutifilosa siskiyouensis^[2]
• Juga occata (Hinds, 1844)^[2]

Subgenus Oreobasis

• Juga bulbosa (Gould, 1847)^[2]
• Juga interioris (Goodrich, 1944)^[2]
• Juga laurae (Goodrich, 1944)^[2]
• Juga nigrina (I. Lea, 1856)^[2]

subgenus ?

• Juga chacei (Henderson, 1935)^[3]
• Juga newberryi (I. Lea, 1860)^[3]
• Juga orickensis (Henderson, 1935)^[3]

Ecology

Parasites of Juga spp. include the bacterium Neorickettsia risticii, which causes Potomac horse fever along with the associated trematode vector.^[4] Juga species are also infected with the bacterium Neorickettsia helminthoeca and its associated fluke, Nanophyetus salmincola^[5]

References

• Clarke, Arthur H. 1981. The freshwater mollusks of Canada. National Museums of Canada. 446 pp.
• List including species in Oregon: https://web.archive.org/web/20081008065745/http://oregonstate.edu/ornhic/data/2004/inverts.html

Notes and References

1. Strong, E. E., & Whelan, N. V. (2019). Assessing the diversity of western North American Juga (Semisulcospiridae, Gastropoda). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 136, 87-103.
2. Book: Burch. J.B.. Freshwater Snails (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of North America. April 1982. Environmental Monitoring and Support Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. 1. 294.
3. http://explorer.natureserve.org/ NatureServe
4. Reubel . G. H.. Barlough . J. E.. Madigan . J. E.. Production and characterization of Ehrlichia risticii, the agent of Potomac horse fever, from snails (Pleuroceridae: Juga spp.) in aquarium culture and genetic comparison to equine strains. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 36. 6. 1501–1511. 1998. 9620368. 104868. .
5. Greiman, S. E., Kent, M. L., Betts, J., Cochell, D., Sigler, T., & Tkach, V. V. (2016). Nanophyetus salmincola, vector of the salmon poisoning disease agent Neorickettsia helminthoeca, harbors a second pathogenic Neorickettsia species. Veterinary parasitology, 229, 107-109.