Beddomeia minima facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Beddomeia minima |
|
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Beddomeia minima is a population of freshwater snails that are endemic to Australia. It is commonly classified as a hydrobiid snail. This population was listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List in 2011 due to its distribution being restricted to a single location and range of possible threats present in Tasmania. Beddomeia minima is one of a few fresh water snail species belonging to the same genus Beddomeia that survive in Tasmania, Australia, specifically a single location in the Scottsdale area.
Taxonomy
The taxonomy of Beddomeia minima is not entirely clear because its original locality is not precise.
The relationship between Beddomeia minima and others of the same genus, Beddomeia, is not clear as its locality is not specific and material of this species have not been dissected.
In comparing the DNA of Beddomeia minima with others in the same family, some taxonomical uncertainty was revealed. It was found that a specimen with the genus Phrantela is the closest relative to this Beddomeia species.
Beddomeia minima share similar anatomical features with others in its taxonomical group.
Description
Beddomeia minima have small shells (1.7 - 3.7 mm in length), with a simple ovate-conic to broadly-conic and a thin inner lip and no columellar bulge. Their shells’ periphery of the last whorl can be rounded, sub angled or angled. They are an aquatic operculate gastropod mollusc, meaning that they have a gill and an operculum. The width of the shell umbilicus of Beddomeia minima is variable (ranging from wide to small, or closed) and represented by a chink, and its aperture shape is typically ovate. The shell shape can range from compressed trochiform to conic, or subpupiform.
It is assumed that Beddomeia minima’s egg capsules have a similar dome-shaped appearance, covered in grains of sand and other fragements, with a broad attachment base to other species of Beddomeia.
Distribution and Habit
The known distribution of Beddomeia minima have been found to inhabit a singular small area on the north eastern part of Tasmania, specifically St. Patricks River in Scottsdale, and potentially in similar surrounding habitats (within a 170 km2 (66 sq mi) range). They are found in and around small streams and also under stones, pieces of wood, leaves and roots.
Beddomeia minima survive along with a variety of other hydrobiid species in a range of habitats including warm springs, rivers, streams, seepages and estuarine environments. The survival of the population is dependent on the maintenance of water quality and retention of protective vegetation.
Ecology and Conservation
The species Beddomeia minima can only survive within a small margin of water quality. Due to their localised distribution, any changes in water quality in the St. Patricks River in Scottsdale, Tasmania, can pose a huge threat to this species. Hence, in the future, this species may experience a severe decline in population.
No behavioural traits have been found for this species.
The species is threatened by industrial agriculture and aquaculture (wood and pulp plantations), mining and quarrying, modifications to natural systems (Dams and water use) and pollution (urban and domestic waste water and industrial, military, agricultural and forestry effluents).
There is no species-specific conservation actions for this species.
See also
