Laevapex fuscus | |
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Subfamily: | Planorbinae
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Species: | L. fuscus
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Binomial name | |
Laevapex fuscus (C.B. Adams, 1841)
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Laevapex fuscus, the dusky ancylid, is a species of small, freshwater, air-breathing limpet, an aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusc or micromollusc in the family Planorbidae, the ram's horn snails and their allies.[2][3]
L. fuscus is found throughout North America east of the Great Plains, except for mountainous areas. It has been recorded in Canada, the United States, Jamaica and Puerto Rico.[1][4][5]
L. fuscus was originally described as Ancylus fuscus in 1841 by Charles Baker Adams:[6]
L. fuscus generally occurs in lacustrine habitats,[7] preferring calmer waters than other ancylid genera.[4]
Simple annual (univoltine) and two-generation per year (bivoltine) life cycles have been reported in New York populations of L. fuscus.[8] The bioenergetic data collected for the species suggest that its reproductive effort is in line with expectation from adult weight, and hence that its life history strategy is undifferentiated.[9] The species is functionally protandric, despite being one of the more specialised of higher limnic pulmonate snails.[10]
L. fuscus has been observed attached to the wings or hemelytra of the water bug species Belostoma flumineum (Hemiptera: Belostomatidae). This observation suggests that belostomatids might serve as a mode of transport and a passive dispersal agent for L. fuscus and other ancylid species.[11]