Anguispira mordax
{{Short description|Species of land snail}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = A_mordax.jpg
| image_caption = A mature Appalachian tigersnail found in Tennessee
| genus = Anguispira
| species = mordax
| authority = (Shuttleworth, 1852)
| synonyms = Helix mordax {{small|1=(Shuttleworth, 1852)}}
Anguispira alternata smithi {{small|1=(Walker, 1928)}}
Anguispira alternata paucicostata {{small|1=(Kutchka, 1938)}}
}}
Anguispira mordax, also known as the Appalachian tigersnail, is a species of pulmonate land snail in the family Discidae endemic to the southeastern United States. It is named after the Appalachian mountain range.
Appearance
The Appalachian tigersnail has a dull, slightly depressed shell ranging from 13 to 18 mm in diameter.Kutchka, G. M. (1938). [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8284509 New varieties of Anguispira and Discus]. The Nautilus. 52(1): 11-14, pl. 2. It is heavily ribbed, with the ribs being roughly 1-1.5mm apart.Pilsbry, Henry A. (1948). Land Mollusca of North America (North of Mexico). Vol. 2, Part 2. Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. This gives the shell a distinct ′wavy′ look. It is striated with a defined carina and a narrow, deep umbilicus. The shell is yellowish or "buckthorn brown" in color, defined by darker brown or reddish streaks that radiate outwards across the shell, running parallel to the radial ribs.
Ecology
Populations of Appalachian tigersnail have been found across Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, and West Virginia.{{Cite web |title=Anguispira mordax |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.108248/Anguispira_mordax |access-date= |website=NatureServe Explorer}} It is listed as vulnerable in Kentucky, Virginia, and North Carolina and as imperiled in West Virginia.
The Appalachian tigersnail is found in a wide range of habitats similar to those of its close relative, Anguispira alternata. It is typically found in mesic hardwood forests on or around decaying logs, hollow trees, or limestone outcrops.Dourson, D.C. 2013. Land snails of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and southern Appalachians. Goatslug Publications, Bakersville, NC. 336 pp.
There is some uncertainty surrounding the Appalachian tigersnail's taxonomy due to its tendency to hybridize with close relatives Anguispira alternata and Anguispira stronglyodes.{{Cite web |title=Virginia Land Snails: Anguispira mordax |url=https://www.carnegiemnh.org/science/mollusks/va_anguispira_mordax.html |access-date= |website=Carnegie Museum of Natural History}} Malacologist Leslie Hubricht claims the only ′pure′ populations of Appalachian tigersnail exist in the mountains of North Carolina.Hubricht, Leslie (1985). The distributions of the native land mollusks of the Eastern United States. Field Museum of Natural History.
References
{{reflist}}{{Taxon identifiers|from=Q3692390}}