Vertigo pygmaea

Species of gastropod

Vertigo pygmaea

Apertural view of a shell of Vertigo pygmaea
Scientific classification
Domain:  | Eukaryota
Kingdom:  | Animalia
Phylum:  | Mollusca
Class:  | Gastropoda
Order:  | Stylommatophora
Family:  | Vertiginidae
Subfamily:  | Vertigininae
Genus:  | Vertigo
Species:  |

V. pygmaea

Binomial name
Vertigo pygmaea

(Draparnaud, 1801)[1]

Synonyms

* Alaea vulgaris Jeffreys, 1830 (junior synonym)
* Helix (Isthmia) cylindrica Gray, 1821 (junior synonym)
* Pupa (Nearctula) superioris Pilsbry, 1899
* Pupa (Vertigo) heldi Clessin, 1877 (junior synonym)
* Pupa (Vertigo) pygmaea (Draparnaud, 1801) (superseded combination)
* Pupa pygmæa Draparnaud, 1801
* Vertigo (Isthmia) pygmaea (Draparnaud, 1801) · alternate representation
* Vertigo (Vertigo) heldi (Clessin, 1877) (junior synonym)
* Vertigo (Vertigo) pygmaea (Draparnaud, 1801)· accepted, alternate representation
* Vertigo callosa Sterki, 1890
* Vertigo heldi (Clessin, 1877) (junior synonym)

Vertigo pygmaea, common name the "crested vertigo", is a species of minute air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Vertiginidae, the whorl snails.[2]

## Shell description

[edit]

Drawing of a shell of Vertigo pygmaea

The shell is extremely small, oval-cylindric and obtuse at the summit, of a more or less deep brown, smooth and dull. The spire consists of five whorls.[3]

The aperture is scarcely longer than wide, and nearly round, furnished with four teeth, of which the superior is acute, two deeply placed inferior, and finally one on the columellar margin. A fifth tooth is often found in the base of the aperture. The lateral margin is slightly angular in the middle. Peristome is reflected below. The umbilical crevice quite pronounced.[3]

This snail lives under hedges.[3]

(description as Vertigo heldi) The shell is rimate, turreted, irregularly and very finely striate, of reddish-brown color, glossy. The shell has 6 whorls, that are slowly increasing and rather convex. The first 3 whorls form a blunt summit which is about ⅓ the length of the shell. The last 3 whorls are of nearly equal height and form the remaining cylindric part of the shell. The last whorl is neither calloused nor contracted preceding the aperture.[3]

The aperture is about ¼ the length of shell, arcuately convex, somewhat impressed on the outer side, the impression running as a groove-like depression for a short distance on the last whorl. Aperture is toothed, the teeth are reddish, very weak and placed deep in the throat: 1 tooth on the middle of the parietal wall, 1 on the columella, 2 very weakly developed, frequently wanting, on the palatal wall. Peristome is continuous, somewhat expanded, little thickened.[3]

The width of the adult shell is 1.1-1.25 mm, the height is 2.4-2.7 mm.[4][3]

## Distribution

[edit]

Distribution

This species occurs in Europe in the following countries and islands:

* Czech Republic
* Netherlands
* Poland
* Slovakia
* Ukraine[5]
* Great Britain
* Ireland
* Latvia
* and others

And in America, in various places including:

* Michigan \- special concern, see List of threatened fauna of Michigan

## References

[edit]

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

* Clessin S. 1877. Eine neue Pupa. Nachrichtsblatt der Deutschen Malakozoologischen Gesellschaft 9 (4-5): 49–51. Frankfurt am Main.

1. ^ Draparnaud J. P. R. 1801. Tableau des mollusques terrestres et fluviatiles de la France. pp. [1-2], 1-116. Montpellier, Paris. (Renaud; Bossange, Masson & Besson).
2. ^ MolluscaBase eds. (2023). MolluscaBase. Vertigo pygmaea (Draparnaud, 1801). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=426427 on 2023-02-11
3. ^ a b c d e f g Pilsbry H. A. & Cooke C. M. 1918-1920. Manual of Conchology. Second series: Pulmonata. Volume 25. Pupillidae (Gastrocoptinae, Vertigininae). Philadelphia. page 174.
4. ^ Species summary for Vertigo heldi. 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.

* Sterki, V. (1890). On new forms of Vertigo. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 42: 31–35.
* Provoost, S.; Bonte, D. (Ed.) (2004). Animated dunes: a view of biodiversity at the Flemish coast [Levende duinen: een overzicht van de biodiversiteit aan de Vlaamse kust]. Mededelingen van het Instituut voor Natuurbehoud, 22. Instituut voor Natuurbehoud: Brussel, Belgium. ISBN 90-403-0205-7. 416, ill.
* Sysoev, A. V. & Schileyko, A. A. (2009). Land snails and slugs of Russia and adjacent countries. Sofia/Moskva (Pensoft). 312 pp., 142 plates.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vertigo pygmaea.

* Vertigo pygmaea at Animalbase taxonomy, short description, distribution, biology, status (threats), images
* images representing Vertigo pygmaea at Encyclopedia of Life
* winter survival
* Draparnaud, J. P. R. (1801). Tableau des mollusques terrestres et fluviatiles de la France. Montpellier / Paris (Renaud / Bossange, Masson & Besson). 1-116
* Gray, J. E. (1821). A natural arrangement of Mollusca, according to their internal structure. London Medical Repository. 15 (87): 229–239
* Pilsbry, H. A. (1899). New American land shells. The Nautilus. 12(9): 101-104
* Clessin, S. (1877). Eine neue Pupa. Nachrichtsblatt der deutschen malakozoologischen Gesellschaft. 9(4/5): 49-51
* Dall, W. H. (1904). Notes on the nomenclature of the Pupacea and associated forms. The Nautilus. 17(10): 114-116
* Schileyko, A. A. & Rymzhanov, T. S. (2013). Fauna of land mollusks (Gastropoda, Pulmonata Terrestria) of Kazakhstan and adjacent territories. Moscow-Almaty: KMK Scientific Press. 389 pp

Taxon identifiers

Vertigo pygmaea|

* Wikidata: Q2576949
* BioLib: 2697
* BOLD: 312068
* EoL: 452743
* EUNIS: 286968
* Fauna Europaea: 431227
* Fauna Europaea (new): 5372281f-e2b9-43d1-883b-2cadca953f37
* GBIF: 2293983
* iNaturalist: 233535
* IRMNG: 10236369
* ITIS: 76851
* NatureServe: 2.114123
* NCBI: 1752687
* Observation.org: 20092
* Open Tree of Life: 2882012
* WoRMS: 426427

Vertigo heldi|

* Wikidata: Q7922958
* CoL: 7TLK2
* EUNIS: 286944
* Fauna Europaea: 431202
* Fauna Europaea (new): d6ac9e92-22c4-49c0-a89e-51f58fbfe1e7
* GBIF: 4567190
* iNaturalist: 151295
* IUCN: 156931
* Open Tree of Life: 2881997