Io fluvialis
| Spiny river snail | |
|---|---|
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| A live individual of Io fluvialis | |
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| A live individual of Io fluvialis | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): | clade Caenogastropoda clade Sorbeoconcha |
| Superfamily: | Cerithioidea |
| Family: | Pleuroceridae |
| Subfamily: | Pleurocerinae |
| Genus: |
Io Lea, 1831 |
| Species: | I. fluvialis |
| Binomial name | |
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Io fluvialis (Say, 1825) |
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The spiny river snail, scientific name Io fluvialis, is a species of freshwater snail, an aquatic mollusk in the family Pleuroceridae. This is the only species in the genus Io. This species is endemic to the USA.
This species is endemic to the Tennessee River and its larger tributaries, but it has been largely extirpated due to pollution and the construction of dams.
These snails live in rapidly flowing, well-oxygenated waters of shoals and riffles of rivers, but not in slack water below shoals. The preferred water depth for this species is up to 1.5 m.
These snails feed on the algal coating on rocks. Females lay between 20-100 eggs, which begin to hatch after 15 days.
The shell morphology is very variable, with some individuals totally lacking spines. For this reason it was formerly thought that many species existed within this genus.
This snail has served as the emblem for the American Malacological Society since 1960.
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Wikipedia