Latia lateralis

Taxobox
name = "Latia lateralis"
status =


regnum = Animalia
phylum = Mollusca
classis = Gastropod
subclassis = Orthogastropoda
superordo = Heterobranchia
ordo = Pulmonata
subordo = Basommatophora
familia = Latiidae
genus = "Latia"
species = "L. lateralis"
binomial = "Latia lateralis"
binomial_authority = (Gould,1852)
synonyms =

"Latia lateralis" is a species of small freshwater snail or limpet, an aquatic gastropod mollusc in the family Latiidae.

There is no fossil record of this species genus or family, so there is currently not enough information available to be able to understand its exact evolutionary origins.

Distribution

This species is endemic to the North Island of New Zealand.

Habitat

This freshwater limpet is found on the underside of stones in clean-running streams and rivers.

Life habits

These animals have a pallial lung, as do all pulmonate snails, but they also have a false gill or "pseudobranch". This serves as a gill as, in their non-tidal habitat, these limpets never reach the surface for air.

When disturbed, the animal releases a bright green, light-emitting cloud. This is a unique bioluminescence system, but although being studied since 1880, the exact mechanism is still unclear.

These limpets feed upon the surface film covering the rocks on which they live, consisting of algae, bacteria and fungus. Little else is known about their biology.

References

* [http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/ObjectDetails.aspx?oid=630391&coltype=Molluscs&regno=M.158239 Te Papa Collection]
* [http://www.mollusca.co.nz/checklist.php?page=27#Latiidae New Zealand Mollusca]