Juga plicifera explained

Juga plicifera, common name pleated juga,[1] and graceful keeled horn snail[2] is a species of small freshwater snail with an ovate and corneous operculum, ranging in size from 16mm to 35mm long.[2] The snail is dextrally coiled with about 15 whorls and 10 to 12 axial plicae on each whorl.[2] It is an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Semisulcospiridae.

Distribution

Juga plicifera is distributed throughout northwestern Oregon and Washington, USA, and is found in lakes, rivers, creeks, and tributaries.[3]

Habitat

Juga plicifera can be found clinging to rocks or substrate in slow flowing streams, as well as in the muddy-sand bottoms of small and medium lakes with a preference for shaded sites.[2] It has been shown to like cool, clear water, though it has been noted to have a greater tolerance to siltation and slack water than some other members of the Juga genus (Juga newberryi).[4]

Ecology

Juga plicifera serves as an intermediate host for Nanophyetus salmincola.

Conservation

Juga plicifera is assessed as a vulnerable species in Oregon by NatureServe. Population in Washington do not have an assessed conservation status.[1]

Notes and References

  1. "Juga plicifera (I. Lea, 1838)". NatureServe Explorer, accessed 26 February 2013.
  2. (2013). "Juga plicifera". In: Oregon Estuarine Invertebrates (ed. 2) (2013). Juga plicifera https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/12901/J_plicifera%20FINAL.pdf?sequence=1.
  3. Strong and Whelan (2019). "Assessing the diversity of western North American Juga (Semisulcospiridae, Gastropoda)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 136. (2019): 87–103. [doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2019.04.009].
  4. Foltz Jordan and Janicki (n.d.). "A freshwater snail". The Xerces Society.