Vertigo alpestris

Vertigo alpestris is a species of minute, air-breathing land snail, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs or micromollusks in the family Vertiginidae, the whorl snails.

Vertigo alpestris
Six shells of Vertigo alpestris. Scale bar is in mm.
NE[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Eupulmonata
clade Stylommatophora
clade Orthurethra
Superfamily:
Pupilloidea
Family:
Vertiginidae
Subfamily:
Vertigininae
Tribe:
Vertiginini
Genus:
Vertigo
Subgenus:
Vertigo
Species:
V. alpestris
Binomial name
Vertigo alpestris
Alder, 1838[2]

Shell description
Apertural view of a shell of Vertigo alpestris

The shell is subcylindrical, thin and semitransparent, closely and rather strongly striate in the line of growth. Its color is very glossy, a pale yellowish-horn-color. The periphery is rounded: epidermis thin. The shell has 4½ convex whorls, but slightly compressed. The spire is short, abrupt and bluntly pointed. The suture is excessively deep.[3]

The shell aperture is semioval and subangular, owing to the outward compression of the periphery. The aperture has 4 teeth: one sharp and prominent tooth on the middle of the pillar [parietal wall], one strong and also prominent and thick tooth on the pillar lip, and two lamellae or plate-like teeth which are placed at some little distance within the outer lip, but not on any rib or callous fold as in Vertigo pygmaea. The labial teeth are visible on the outside, owing to the thinness and transparency of the shell. The outer lip is rather thick and very slightly reflected, not strengthened by any rib either outside or inside. The outer edge is abruptly reflected. The inner lip is somewhat thickened in adult specimen. The umbilicus is small and narrow, but rather deep.[3]

The width of the adult shell is 0.9-1.1 mm, the height is 1.6-2.15 mm.[4]

Distribution

This species occurs in countries and islands including:

References

This article incorporates public domain text from the reference[3]

  1. IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 19 September 2008.
  2. Alder J. (1838). "Supplement to a catalogue of the land and fresh-water testaceous Mollusca, found in the vicinity of Newcastle". Transactions of the Natural History Society of Northumberland and Durham 1(3): 337-342, page 340. Newcastle.
  3. Pilsbry H. A. & Cooke C. M. 1918-1920. Manual of Conchology. Second series: Pulmonata. Volume 25. Pupillidae (Gastrocoptinae, Vertigininae). Philadelphia. page 197.
  4. Species summary for Vertigo alpestris. AnimalBase, accessed 23 June 2009.
  5. Balashov I. & Gural-Sverlova N. 2012. An annotated checklist of the terrestrial molluscs of Ukraine. Journal of Conchology. 41 (1): 91-109.
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