Home/Species/ Wong's Pyrg

Pyrgulopsis wongi

Hershler, 1989

Wong's Pyrg

G3Vulnerable Found in 3 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

G3VulnerableGlobal Rank

Least concernIUCN

High - mediumThreat Impact

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.113112

Element CodeIMGASJ0360

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryInvertebrate Animal

IUCNLeast concern

Endemicendemic to a single nation

KingdomAnimalia

PhylumMollusca

ClassGastropoda

OrderLittorinimorpha

FamilyHydrobiidae

GenusPyrgulopsis

Other Common Names

Wong's Springsnail (EN)

Concept Reference

Turgeon, D. D., J. F. Quinn, Jr., A. E. Bogan, E. V. Coan, F. G. Hochberg, W. G. Lyons, P. M. Mikkelsen, R. J. Neves, C. F. E. Roper, G. Rosenberg, B. Roth, A. Scheltema, F. G. Thompson, M. Vecchione, and J. D. Williams. 1998. Common and scientific names of aquatic invertebrates from the United States and Canada: Mollusks. 2nd Edition. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 26, Bethesda, Maryland. 526 pp.

Conservation Status

Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2

Review Date2024-01-16

Change Date2024-01-16

Edition Date2024-01-16

Edition AuthorsCordeiro, J. (2011); rev. T. Cornelisse (2024)

Threat ImpactHigh - medium

Range Extent5000-200,000 square km (about 2000-80,000 square miles)

Number of Occurrences21 - 80

Rank Reasons

This species has a moderate range and number of occurrences, although populations appear stable in the long-term, it is threatened by an invasive species and climate change.

Range Extent Comments

This species occurs in the Owens Valley and basins east of the Sierra Nevada in California and Nevada, USA (Hershler 1998; Hershler and Liu 2007).

Occurrences Comments

This species is known from at least 35 occurrences using a 2 km separation distance and records from 1993-2023 (Hamlin 1996; Hershler and Pratt 1990; California Natural Diversity Database 2014; GBIF 2024).

Threat Impact Comments

This species is threatened by the invasive New Zealand mud snail, a habitat generalist with the potential to alter habitats and competitively displace similar species (Dudley et al. 2009). Further, as this species is dependent on springs and continual water source, it does not tolerate desiccation (Hershler and Liu 2008), thus climate change induced drought could be a threat in this species' arid west habitat (Young et al. 2012).

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

This species is found in seeps, headsprings, and upper reaches of spring runs (Liu and Hershler 2007).

Other Nations (1)

United StatesN3

Province	Rank	Native
California	S2	Yes
Nevada	S1	Yes

Threat Assessments

Threat	Scope	Severity	Timing
8 - Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases	Large (31-70%)	Serious - moderate	High (continuing)
8.1 - Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases	Large (31-70%)	Serious - moderate	High (continuing)
8.1.2 - Named species	Large (31-70%)	Serious - moderate	High (continuing)
11 - Climate change & severe weather	Large (31-70%)	Moderate or 11-30% pop. decline	High (continuing)
11.2 - Droughts	Large (31-70%)	Moderate or 11-30% pop. decline	High (continuing)

Roadless Areas (3)

California (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Excelsior (CA)	Inyo National Forest	45,607
Glass Mountain	Inyo National Forest	52,867

Nevada (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Aurora Crater	Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest	5,689

References (12)

California Natural Diversity Database. 2014. Element Subnational Ranking Form in Biotics 5 database. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia (accessed 2024).
Dudley, T., R. Hechinge, K. Lafferty, and A. Kuris. 2009. Development of biological control for the New Zealand Mud snail - year 2. California Sea Grant College Program. Marine Science Institution, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society (FMCS). 2021. The 2021 checklist of freshwater gastropods (Mollusca: Gastropods) of the United States and Canada. Considered and approved by the Gastropods Names Subcommittee December 2020. Online: https://molluskconservation.org/MServices_Names-Gastropods.html
Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). 2024. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) data portal. Online. Available: https://www.gbif.org/ (accessed 2024).
Hamlin, R.A., 1996. Conservation genetics of remnant springsnail, Pyrgulopsis wongi, populations in desert valleys of California and Nevada. University of Nevada, Reno. 48 pp.
Hershler, R. 1998. A systematic review of the hydrobiid snails (Gastropoda: Rissooidea) of the Great Basin, western United States. Part I. Genus Pyrgulopsis. The Veliger, 41(1): 1-132.
Hershler, R., and D. W. Sada. 2002. Biogeography of Great Basin aquatic snails of the genus Pyrgulopsis. Smithsonian Contributions to the Earth Sciences 33:255-276.
Hershler, R. and W.L. Pratt. 1990. Springsnails (Gastropoda: Hydrobiidae) of Ash Meadows, Amargosa Basin, California-Nevada. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 103:279-299.
Liu, H.P. and R. Hershler. 2007. A test of the vicariance hypothesis of western North American freshwater biogeography. Journal of Biogeography 34:534-548.
Sada, D.W. and Herbst, D.B. 2001. Macroinvertebrates and environmental characteristics of Owen Valley Springs, Inyo County, California. Department of Water and Power, Bishop, California.
Turgeon, D. D., J. F. Quinn, Jr., A. E. Bogan, E. V. Coan, F. G. Hochberg, W. G. Lyons, P. M. Mikkelsen, R. J. Neves, C. F. E. Roper, G. Rosenberg, B. Roth, A. Scheltema, F. G. Thompson, M. Vecchione, and J. D. Williams. 1998. Common and scientific names of aquatic invertebrates from the United States and Canada: Mollusks. 2nd Edition. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 26, Bethesda, Maryland. 526 pp.
Young, B.E., Hall, K.R., Byers, E., Gravuer, K., Hammerson, G., Redder, A. and Szabo, K., 2012. Rapid assessment of plant and animal vulnerability to climate change. Wildlife conservation in a changing climate, pp.129-150.

Pyrgulopsis wongi

Habitat

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