Kingdom Animalia Family Vertiginidae Tribe Vertiginini Phylum Mollusca Rank Genus | Superfamily Pupilloidea Subfamily Vertigininae Scientific name Vertigo Higher classification Vertiginidae | |
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Lower classifications Desmoulin's whorl snail, Vertigo angustior, Vertigo pygmaea, Vertigo alpestris, Vertigo milium | ||
Vertigo is a genus of minute, air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs or micromollusks in the family Vertiginidae, the whorl snails.
Contents
Distribution
The distribution of the genus Vertigo includes Europe, northern Asia, eastern Asia, Japan, Central and North America, Caribbean and the Bermudas.
Shell description
In this genus, the shell is deeply rimate and ovate. The apex is acuminate and obtuse. The shell has 5-6 whorls. The last whorl is rounded. The aperture is semioval with 4 to 7 folds. The peristome is scarcely expanded and white-lipped.
Anatomy
Snails in the genus Vertigo have no oral tentacles, thus they have only one pair of tentacles.
The jaw is arched; the ends squarely truncated; the anterior surface striate; the cutting edge with a median projection. The radula has a central tooth that is almost square, tricuspid, as large as or larger than the lateral teeth, which are similar, narrower, and bi- or tricuspid. The marginal teeth are low, wide and serrated.
Species
Species in the genus Vertigo include:
subgenus Vertigo O. F. Müller, 1774
subgenus Vertilla Moquin-Tandon, 1856
subgenus ?