Kingdom Animalia Superfamily Pupilloidea Genus Pupilla Phylum Mollusca | Class Gastropoda Family Pupillidae Scientific name Pupilla alpicola Rank Species | |
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Similar Pupilla pratensis, Truncatellina claustralis, Pupilla muscorum, Pupilla triplicata, Pupilla sterrii | ||
Pupilla alpicola is a species of minute air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk or micromollusk in the family Pupillidae.
Contents
Description
The shell of this species slightly larger than that of Pupilla muscorum, with slightly more prominent growth lines, around 6 not very convex whorls. The shell apex is flat (in contrast to Pupilla muscorum and Pupilla pratensis). The apertural lip is weak; the cervical callus is weak; there are usually no teeth in the aperture, occasionally a weak parietal tooth. Note the presence of a characteristic gutter-like depression in the external surface of the last whorl, at about 1/4 of the distance from its base. (In oblique light this is also visible in the aperture as a narrow, delicate ridge).
The height of the shell is 2.8–3.3 mm. The width of the shell is 1.75–1.8 mm.
Distribution
The distribution of Pupilla alpicola includes the Alps and Carpathians. Pupilla alpicola has a scattered distribution; it is rare. Most of its habitats are close to alpine cattle pastures, and this means these habitats are now at risk, because traditional land management is decreasing.
Pupilla alpicola was listed as part of fauna of the Czech Republic for a long time, (as "probably extinct" in Bohemia and critically endangered (CR) in Moravia). After a very similar taxon Pupilla pratensis was elevated to its species level in 2009, the revision showed that Pupilla alpicola does not live in the Czech Republic and all of the supposed records from that country are actually Pupilla pratensis.
Ecology
Pupilla alpicola occurs in moss, within wet meadows in high alpine regions, mostly in calcareous fens. In Switzerland it lives between 900 and 2500 m altitude.