Marstonia is a genus of freshwater snails with a gill and an operculum, aquatic gastropod molluscs in the family Hydrobiidae.

Marstonia
shell of Marstonia comalensis
Apertural view of a shell of Marstonia scalariformis.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Littorinimorpha
Family: Hydrobiidae
Subfamily: Nymphophilinae
Genus: Marstonia
Baker, 1926[1]
Diversity[2]
16 valid species

Distribution

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Species in the genus Marstonia are distributed in springs, streams and lakes in eastern North America.[3] Most of these species have extremely narrow geographic ranges and consequently have become a focus of conservation activities; two are federally listed as endangered and others are variously listed by state wildlife agencies.[3]

Description

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The freshwater gastropod genus Marstonia is composed of 15 small (shell height < 5.0 mm), ovate- to elongate-shelled species.[3] Marstonia differs from the other eight North American nymphophiline genera in that the (female) oviduct and bursal duct join well in front of (instead of behind) the posterior wall of the pallial cavity.[3] It has also been resolved as a well supported sub-clade within its subfamily based on mtDNA sequences.[3]

Species

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Eastern North American species of Pyrgulopsis[4] are considered to be in separate genus Marstonia according to Thompson & Hershler (2002).[5]

Other species of Marstonia include:

Although Marstonia has been reviewed four times since 1978 (Thompson 1978, Hershler 1994, Thompson & Hershler 2002, Hershler & Liu 2011), three of its congeners have been little studied beyond their original descriptions and their anatomy is unknown.[3] Two of these — Marstonia olivacea, Marstonia ozarkensis — may be extinct and thus will likely remain incertae sedis.[3]

References

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This article incorporates CC-BY-3.0 text from the reference [3]

  1. ^ Baker H. B. (1926). Trans. Wisconsin Acad. Sci. Arts 22: 195.
  2. ^ MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Marstonia F. C. Baker, 1926. Accessed at: http://molluscabase.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=719377 on 2023-10-25
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Hershler R. & Liu H.-P. (2011). "Redescription of Marstonia comalensis (Pilsbry & Ferriss, 1906), a poorly known and possibly threatened freshwater gastropod from the Edwards Plateau region (Texas)". ZooKeys 77: 1-16. doi:10.3897/zookeys.77.935.
  4. ^ Hershler R. (1994). "A review of the North American freshwater snail genus Pyrgulopsis (Hydrobiidae)". Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 554: 1-115. PDF.
  5. ^ Marstonia http://www.natureserve.org accessed 25 July 2009. (See "Concept References" in each Marstonia species.)
  6. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-12-05. Retrieved 2009-07-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

Further reading

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  • Thompson F. G. & Hershler R. (2002). "Two genera of North American freshwater snails: Marstonia Baker, 1926, resurrected to generic status, and Floridobia, new genus (Prosobranchia: Hydrobiidae: Nymphophilinae)." The Veliger 45(3): 269–271.