Pannonian spring snail
| Pannonian spring snail | ||||||||||||
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Bythinella pannonica from Eastern Hungary |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Bythinella pannonica | ||||||||||||
| Frauenfeld , 1865 |
The Pannonian spring snail ( Bythinella pannonica ) is a rare species from the genus spring snail ( Bythinella ) from the family of the water snail (Hydrobiidae).
features
Pannonian spring snails are very small, the shell is up to 3 mm high and 2 mm wide, the whorls are rounded. The housing is brown, it can also be colored green due to algae growth.
Taxonomy
Source snails can only be anatomically determined with certainty on the basis of the sexual organs. Sequencing of the DNA must also often be used. Older information based on empty shells can therefore be problematic, as some species are very similar to one another.
Bythinella pannonica was listed as Sadleriana pannonica (Frauenfeld, 1865) for a long time and was only added to Bythinella by GLÖER in 2002 .
distribution
Bythinella pannonica occurs only in a small area of the western Carpathians, in eastern Hungary around Eger and Miskolc and around Kosice in eastern Slovakia. There are local occurrences in springs and spring streams, some of which have high numbers of individuals.
Way of life and ecology
Spring snails largely need constant temperatures in their habitat. Bythinella pannonica lives in thermal springs and the adjacent upper reaches of brooks with a stony or gravelly bottom. Hundreds of animals per square meter can live in suitable habitats. They are highly specialized and therefore very well adapted to the extremely nutrient-poor, actually hostile habitat. Due to the low ecological amplitude, they react to changes in their habitat within a short period of time with a decreasing number of individuals or even local extinction. In several sources in Miskolc, from which there is old information about Bythinella pannonica , the species can no longer be found today due to habitat changes (thermal baths, water construction).
Spring snails feed on diatoms, blue and green algae and bacterial films in the springs as well as on fallen leaves and pieces of wood in the water. The eggs are laid on stones or other snails.
Danger
Spring snails are generally endangered by spring catchment and construction work in the vicinity of the springs. The snails of the thermal springs and streams are particularly endangered by spring catchments and conversions for tourist purposes.
The IUCN classifies the species as "endangered" (vulnerable). Under the synonym Sadleriana pannonica , it is protected throughout the EU according to Annex 2 and 4 of the Habitats Directive, i. H. the member states must set up suitable protected areas and protect the species outside the protected areas in order to guarantee its “good conservation status”.
Web links
- Bythinella pannonica inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015.4. Posted by: Falkner, G., 2009. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
- http://www.weichtiere.at
literature
- Fehér, Z., G. Majoros, A. Varga (2008): A scoring method for the assessment of rarity and conservation value of the Hungarian freshwater molluscs. Heldia 6, pp. 127-140.
- Glöer P. (2002): The freshwater gastropods of northern and central Europe . The animal world of Germany, ConchBooks, Hackenheim, 326 pp., ISBN 3-925919-60-0 . P. 144.
- Horsák M., Juřičková L., Beran L., Čejka T. & Dvořák L. (2010): "Komentovaný seznam měkkýšů zjištěných ve volné přírodě České a Slovenské republiky." Malacologica Bohemoslovaca , Suppl. 1: pp. 1-37. PDF .