Vitta usnea

Vitta usnea is a species of freshwater snail with an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Neritidae, the nerites.

Vitta usnea
A live individual
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Neritimorpha
Order:	Cycloneritida
Family:	Neritidae
Genus:	Vitta
Species:	V. usnea
Binomial name
Vitta usnea (Röding, 1798)
Synonyms
Nerita microstoma d'Orbigny, 1842 Nerita usnea Röding, 1798 (original combination) Neritina floridana Reeve, 1855 Neritina gravis Morelet, 1849 (junior synonym) Neritina jamaicensis C. B. Adams, 1851 Neritina lineolata Lamarck, 1816 Neritina microstoma (d'Orbigny, 1842) (unaccepted combination) Neritina reclivata (Say, 1822) Neritina reticulata Cristofori & Jan, 1832 Neritina rotundata Martens, 1865 Neritina sphaera Pilsbry, 1931 Neritina usnea (Röding, 1798) (new combination) Theodoxus reclivatus Say, 1822

Distribution

Vitta usnea, (common name olive nerite) is a euryhaline organism living at salinities ranging from 0 to 19 ppt. It feeds on epiphytic and epibenthic algae. It ranges from north Florida on the Atlantic Coast through the coastal waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea to Trinidad (Russell, 1941).

Vitta usnea lives in shallow protected bays from just above high water to approximately 1.5 meters in depth where it is found on sea grasses, emergent marsh plants, rocks, and stumps. It is known to climb up marsh grass blades at high tide to avoid predators. One such predator is the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus.

Life cycle

The life span is 3–5 years in an aquarium.

Human use

This species is used as algae-eating snail among freshwater aquarists. In an aquarium, the shell of this species grows 1.3-2.5 cm. This snail prefers an aquarium temperature of 22.2-25.6 °C.

References

• Eichhorst T.E. (2016). Neritidae of the world. Volume 2. Harxheim: Conchbooks. pp. 696–1366

External links

• Röding, P.F. (1798). Museum Boltenianum sive Catalogus cimeliorum e tribus regnis naturæ quæ olim collegerat Joa. Fried Bolten, M. D. p. d. per XL. annos proto physicus Hamburgensis. Pars secunda continens Conchylia sive Testacea univalvia, bivalvia & multivalvia. Trapp, Hamburg. viii, 199 pp
• Morelet, A. (1849). Testacea novissima insulae Cubanae et Americae Centralis, Pars I. Paris: Baillière. 31 pp
• Reeve, L. A. (1855-1856). Monograph of the genus Neritina. In: Conchologia Iconica, or, illustrations of the shells of molluscous animals, vol. 9, pls 1-37 and unpaginated text. L. Reeve & Co., London.
• Adams, C. B. (1851). Descriptions of new freshwater shells which inhabit Jamaica. Contributions to Conchology. 9: 174-175
• Czaja, A.; Meza-Sánchez, I. G.; Estrada-Rodríguez, J. L.; Romero-Méndez, U.; Sáenz-Mata, J.; Ávila-Rodríguez, V.; Becerra-López, J. L.; Estrada-Arellano, J. R.; Cardoza-Martínez, G. F.; Aguillón-Gutiérrez, D. R.; Cordero-Torres, D. G.; Covich, A. P. (2020). The freshwater snails (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of Mexico: updated checklist, endemicity hotspots, threats and conservation status. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad. 91: e912909