Vertigo moulinsiana

Vertigo moulinsiana is a very small Escargot wet mediums limestones which seems in the process of regression on whole or part of its surface of distribution.

It seems that it was often found, as its Latin name indicates it close to the water mills.

Its small size makes it often discrete, which explains why he was studied little in many countries. The knowledge of this species comes especially from the English studies, of which one related to démanagement of a population which was threatened by the layout of a road.
Il can be easily confused with others pulmonés millimetre-length and other species of the kind Vertigo, of which with Vertigo antivertigo (Draparnaud, 1801) for the pre-adults who did not develop yet the “teeth” which push in the adult inside the shell close to the opening. It is known little about and one is unaware of what he eats. It seems that its populations are divided into métapopulations made up of many small separate colonies from/to each other, diffuse on broad spaces, evolving/moving with the liking of their needs. The risings could facilitate its dispersion, in the current or fixed at a support.

Synonymy

Pupa moulinsiana Dupuy, 1849
Pupa laevigata Kokeil , in Gallenstein, 1852
Pupa charpentieri Shuttleworth, in Küster, 1852
Pupa moulinsiana VAr. personata Moquin-Tandon, 1855
Vertigo ventrosa Heynemann, 1862
Pupa küsteriana Westerlund, 1875
Pupa mulinsania VAr. octodentata Westerlund, 1878
Vertigo limbata Moquin-Tandon, 1855
German Pupa desmoulinsi , 1913

Description

It is done in the adult, because the young people do not have yet the characters allowing their identification. In the adult, the body is gray and in general has only 2 tentacles on the top of the head instead of four in snails. The coat and the plate of the foot are grisâtres clear.
La translucent shell in full light, brilliant, yellow pale with brown reddish, of short and corpulent, dextral ovoid form whose top is blunt. It is very small: 2,2-2,7 mm in height and 1,3-1,65 mm in diameter.
the Twist is with major joinings and the whorls are decorated definitely visible scratches of growth. The snail is adult when the shell has 5 turns of whorls, whose last (with the opening) is definitely larger (2/3 the total height). The opening of form more triangular than round is decorated of 4 quite visible points (1 parietal tooth , 1 columellaire, 2 palatals), number which amounts to 8 at certain individuals.

Food

The food mode of this species is unknown. It is supposed that his tiny mouth only enables him in summer to nourish mushrooms, micro algae, microphone-lichens and bacteria saprophytes, thus perhaps that the pollens or organic matter fallen on the sheets. In winter, it would consume bacteria, mushrooms and micro-organisms on the ground, on the litter.

Distribution

This species would be primarily confined in Europe, especially of the south, power station and of the west (as far as Ireland) and in the East to Russia and in Turkey. In north, it is present at the south of Denmark, Sweden and Lithuania. one nevertheless located it in Morocco, which lets suppose that it could also be present in other countries of North Africa.

Habitat

Wetlands limestones, ripisylves, cariçaies and roselière of the alkaline peat bogs, in the herbaceous layer with 30 to 50 cm height, like another snail, larger; Succinea putris .
Il hibernates in the litère with the top of the ground as of the end of the autumn, but there seems to remain active there even at a temperature close to zero., the species still moves in January in cold weather. Bertrand observed active individuals in October to 1300 m of altitude at dawn, in the presence of frost.

Threats

This snail seems in regression on all its surface of distribution. He is threatened by the drainage, the destruction and the retreat and the fragmentation of the wetlands. It is possible that it is sensitive to certain pollutants of the air or the rain (pesticides in particular). Classified with " weak risk " by the UICN, but “in danger” in certain areas (Alsace for example)

External bonds

, on the red List of the UICN. Checked ecological Sept. 2007.
Diagnosis for the document of objective the Rhine Ried Bruch of Andlau - Volume 5: molluscs - Sept. 2005

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