Myxas glutinosa

Myxas glutinosa
Four shells of Myxas glutinosa, scale bar in cm & mm
Conservation status
Data Deficient (IUCN 2.3)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
(unranked):	clade Heterobranchia clade Euthyneura clade Panpulmonata clade Hygrophila
Superfamily:	Lymnaeoidea
Family:	Lymnaeidae
Subfamily:	Lymnaeinae
Genus:	Myxas
Species:	M. glutinosa
Binomial name
Myxas glutinosa (O. F. Müller, 1774)[2]

The glutinous snail, Myxas glutinosa is a species of small air-breathing freshwater snail, an aquatic gastropod mollusc in the family Lymnaeidae, the pond snails.

drawing of apertural view of the shell of Myxas glutinosa

Anatomy

This snail is unusual in that it extends its almost transparent mantle to completely cover the shell when it is in motion, giving the very small animal a glass-like appearance. It also makes the animal sticky to the touch, hence its common name.

Distribution

This species is European: it is now rare in western Europe, and even rarer in eastern Europe.

• British Isles - listed in List of endangered species in the British Isles
  • This species is fully protected in the United Kingdom under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 since 1981.^[3]
  • List of non-marine molluscs of Great Britain - in one locality in Wales^[4]
  • List of non-marine molluscs of Ireland - extinct in Northern Ireland, still common in the Royal Canal and Grand Canal in central Ireland^[5]
• Czech Republic - extinct in Bohemia
• Germany - critically endangered (vom Aussterben bedroht)^[6]
• Netherlands
• Poland

According to the IUCN red list^[1] it is also native to Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Russian Federation, Sweden and Ukraine.

Habitat

This species requires pollution-free, extremely clear, calm water, in calcium-rich canals, streams and lakes.

It is rapidly declining or already extinct in many European countries, because of the loss of good habitat.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Mollusc Specialist Group 1996. Myxas glutinosa. In: IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 30 December 2008.
2. ^ Müller O. F. 1774. Vermivm terrestrium et fluviatilium, seu animalium infusoriorum, helminthicorum, et testaceorum, non marinorum, succincta historia. Volumen alterum. pp. I-XXVI [= 1-36], 1-214, [1-10]. Havniae & Lipsiae. (Heineck & Faber).
3. ^ Protection for wild animals on Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981. website accessed 7 August 2009.
4. ^ Species Action Plan. Glutinous Snail (Myxas glutinosa). accessed 31 December 2008
5. ^ Myxas glutinosa – The glutinous snail. accessed 31 December 2008.
6. ^ Glöer P. & Meier-Brook C. 2003. Süsswassermollusken. DJN, pp. 134, page 107, ISBN 3-923376-02-2.

Further reading

• Green, W. A. 1901. Amphipeplea (Lymnaea) glutinosa in the River Bann. Irish Naturalist 10: 132.
• Welch, R. J. 1900. Amphipeplea glutinosa Müller, in Ireland. Irish Naturalist 9: 48.