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Vitrina pellucida

(Muller, 1774)

Western Glass-snail

G5Secure Found in 22 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.118184
Element CodeIMGAS86030
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryInvertebrate Animal
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumMollusca
ClassGastropoda
OrderStylommatophora
FamilyVitrinidae
GenusVitrina
Synonyms
Vitrina alaskanaDall, 1905Vitrina pellucida alaskanaDall, 1905
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.
Taxonomic Comments
Pilsbry (1946) considered South Dakota specimens of Vitrina pellucida to be Vitrina alaskana, but Turgeon et al. (1998) did not follow this convention. North American populations have been assigned to a subspecies, Vitrina pellucida alaskana, but based on studies of the reproductive systems, no differences have been demonstrated. Therefore V. p. alaskana is now a synonym of V. pellucida (Roth and Sadeghian 2003).
Conservation Status
Rank MethodExpertise without calculation
Review Date2017-08-02
Change Date2003-12-18
Number of Occurrences> 300
Occurrences Comments
Baxter (1987) cites occurrences in Alaska in the North Gulf Coast and Aleutian Islands; also by Roth and Lindberg (1981) in Attu (Aleutian Islands) in 1979. It was recently documented (as Vitrina alaskana) in 4 of 82 soil samples and 6 area spot searches of Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota, in 2002 (Anderson, 2005). Forsyth (2005) documented it in the Upper Fraser Basin of central British Columbia; as well as the Peace River- northern Rockies region at several localities (Forsyth, 2005); but it is widespread and common throughout the province. Most recently, it was discovered in the Ktunaxa Traditional Territory in southeastern British Columbia (which extends from near Canada - U.S. border north to about 50 km north of Cranbrook) (Ovaska and Sopuck, 2009).
Ecology & Habitat

Description

Complete description, microsculpture, anatomy, morphology, radula in McCray (1999).

Habitat

In Colorado, found in Aspen groves or forest habitat containing aspen with some populations (much less frequent) in basalt slides, among alders, willows, cottonwoods, or undescribed forest edge habitat (McCray, 1999).
Terrestrial Habitats
Forest - Hardwood
Other Nations (2)
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
IdahoS4Yes
WashingtonSNRYes
CaliforniaSNRYes
MontanaS5Yes
UtahS5Yes
WyomingSNRYes
South DakotaSNRYes
AlaskaSNRYes
OregonSNRYes
ArizonaS1Yes
New MexicoSNRYes
TexasS2Yes
ColoradoSNRYes
CanadaN5
ProvinceRankNative
Northwest TerritoriesSUYes
Yukon TerritorySUYes
AlbertaS4Yes
British ColumbiaS5Yes
SaskatchewanSUYes
QuebecSNRYes
Roadless Areas (22)
California (1)
AreaForestAcres
SoldierModoc National Forest10,102
Montana (1)
AreaForestAcres
Big Snowy Mountains WsaLewis and Clark National Forest88,003
Nevada (6)
AreaForestAcres
Angel Peak NorthHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest12,577
Bunker HillHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest27,569
Humboldt - Angel LkHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest1,008
Pearl PeakHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest71,405
Ruby - Lamoille CynHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest32,771
Toiyabe RangeHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest99,225
New Hampshire (1)
AreaForestAcres
Kinsman MountainWhite Mountain National Forest8,999
New Mexico (1)
AreaForestAcres
West Face Sacramento MountainsLincoln National Forest41,176
Utah (12)
AreaForestAcres
0401005Ashley National Forest38,930
418012Uinta National Forest25,758
Boulder MountainWasatch-Cache National Forest8,852
Dark ValleyDixie National Forest27,481
Fishlake MountainFishlake National Forest25,217
Horse Mountain - Mans PeakManti-Lasal National Forest22,159
Mahogany RangeWasatch-Cache National Forest11,409
Mollens HollowWasatch-Cache National Forest17,690
Mt. Logan NorthWasatch-Cache National Forest18,930
Mt. Logan WestWasatch-Cache National Forest5,285
Mt. NaomiWasatch-Cache National Forest41,922
Right Hand Fork LoganWasatch-Cache National Forest15,023
References (14)
  1. Anderson, T.K. 2005. Land snail diversity in Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota. Western North American Naturalist, 65(2): 186-195.
  2. Baxter, R. 1987. Mollusks of Alaska: a listing of all mollusks, freshwater, terrestrial, and marine reported from the State of Alaska, with locations of the species types, maximum sizes and marine depths inhabited. Shells and Sea Life, Bayside, California. 163 pp.
  3. Boag, D.A. and W.D. Wishart. 1982. Distribution and abundance of terrestrial gastropods on a winter range of bighorn sheep in southwestern Alberta. Canadian Journal of Zoology 60: 2633-2640.
  4. Forsyth, R.G. 2005a. Terrestrial gastropods of the Upper Fraser Basin of British Columbia. Living Landscapes, Royal British Columbia Museum: Victoria, British Columbia. 26 pp.
  5. Forsyth, R.G. 2005b. Terrestrial gastropods of the Peace River- northern Rockies region of British Columbia. Living Landscapes, Royal British Columbia Museum: Victoria, British Columbia. 23 pp.
  6. McCray, E.B. 1999. Glass snail, <i>Vitrina pellucida</i> (Muller) (Gastropoda: Pulmonata) in Colorado. Natural History Inventory of Colorado 20: 1-21.
  7. Metcalf, A.L. and R.A. Smartt. 1997. Land snails of New Mexico. Bulletin of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, 10: 1-145.
  8. MolluscaBase eds. 2022. MolluscaBase. Accessed at https://www.molluscabase.org.
  9. Ovaska, K. and L. Sopuck. 2009. Surveys for terrestrial gastropods at risk within Ktunaxa Traditional Territory. Report prepared for British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Victoria, British Columbia. 27 pp.
  10. Pilsbry, H.A. 1946. Land Mollusca of North America (north of Mexico). Volume 2, Part 1. Monograph of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 2(1): 1-520.
  11. Roth, B. and D.R. Lindberg. 1981. Terrestrial mollusks of Attu, Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Arctic, 34(1): 43-47.
  12. Roth, B. and P.S. Sadeghian. 2003. Checklist of the land snails and slugs of California. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Contributions in Science, 3: 1-81.
  13. 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.
  14. Van Es, J. and D.A. Boag. 1981. Terrestrial molluscs of central Alberta. Canadian Field-Naturalist, 95(1): 75-79.