Banff Springs snail

Taxobox
name = Banff Springs snail

---

image_width = 225px
status = EN
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Mollusca
classis = Gastropoda
ordo = Pulmonata
familia = Physidae
genus = "Physella"
species = "P. johnsoni"
binomial = "Physella johnsoni"
binomial_authority = (Clench, 1926)The Banff Springs snail, "Physella johnsoni", a small air-breathing freshwater snail in the family Physidae.

Distribution and conservation status

It lives in Alberta in Canada and it was classified as endangered by COSEWIC. The Canadian Species at Risk Act listed it in the List of Wildlife Species at Risk as being endangered in Canada. [COSEWIC. 2005. [http://www.sararegistry.gc.ca/virtual_sara/files/species/clwsa%5F0505%5Fe%2Epdf Canadian Species at Risk] . Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. 64 pp., page 13.] In April 1997 it became the first living mollusc to be placed on Canada's national list of species at risk.Fact|date=September 2008

Description

The size of the snails are approximately the size of un-popped corn kernels, which inhabit hot spring water.

The largest snails are only about one centimetre long, and like all of the Physidae, the shells are sinistral or left-handed.

Biotope

This species of aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusc is very unusual because it is adapted to life in an environment which is too harsh for most animals to survive in. The snails live in thermal springs where the water is low in oxygen and has a lot of hydrogen sulfide.

Conservation

Historically the snail was found in nine thermal springs in Banff National Park; however, since the 1920s, it can be found in only five of these locations, and unfortunately most of these five locations are high visitor use areas. Destruction and disturbance of the snail's habitat continue to threaten its survival; human actions such as illegal swimming, vandalism, garbage and coins thrown into the springs, all seriously disturb the springs' delicate ecosystems.

Parks Canada is trying to protect the species through education, law enforcement, and scientific research. In 1996 Parks Canada started a research and recovery program for the snail in an effort to protect it. The goals of the program are to maintain self-sustaining populations of the snail, re-establish populations at all historic locations, and hopefully to downlist the species' status.

The snail population fluctuates seasonally. During times when the numbers are critically low, the snail is most vulnerable to human disturbances or natural disasters (like the spring temporarily drying up). While scientists don't know exactly why the population fluctuates so much, it is probably due to changes in water temperature and chemistry or changes to the bacteria and algae. It is estimated that the population varies between 1,500 and 15,000 snails. At its lowest points, the entire population of snails can fit in an ice cream cone, and at its highest, in a one litre milk carton.

Every four weeks researchers and volunteers count the snails and analyze the water chemistry. There is also a captive breeding program being performed, and if it is successful, the snails will be introduced back to the four additional springs where the species was historically present. Eggs are currently hatching in captivity; the time from laying to hatching is four to eight days.

Snails are not present at the Banff Upper Hot Springs.

Ecology

The snails' diet consists of "Periphyton".

References

*cite journal |first=E.A. |last=Remigio |coauthors=Lepitzki, D.A.; Lee, J.S.; Hebert, P.D. |title=Molecular systematic relationships and evidence for a recent origin of the thermal spring endemic snails "Physella johnsoni" and "Physella wrighti" (Pulmonata: Physidae) |journal=Canadian Journal of Zoology |volume=79 |issue=11 |year=2001 |pages=1941–1950

External links

* [http://www.pc.gc.ca/regional/sourcesthermales-hotsprings/itm3-/natcul3_e.asp Parks Canada website]
* [http://www.mb.ec.gc.ca/nature/endspecies/sar/db08s23.en.html Environment Canada website]