Punctum minutissimum is a species of minute air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Punctidae, the dot snails.
| Punctum minutissimum | |
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| video of Punctum minutissimum | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Heterobranchia |
| Order: | Stylommatophora |
| Family: | Punctidae |
| Genus: | Punctum |
| Species: | P. minutissimum
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| Binomial name | |
| Punctum minutissimum I. Lea, 1841
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Shell description edit
The shell of Punctum minutissimum is slightly translucent and pale brown in color. It is 1.1 to 1.3 mm wide, and has 3.5 to 4.5 whorls. The outer shell surface has a sculpture of radial striae, which are obvious under magnification. The underside of the shell has a very wide umbilicus, almost 25% of the shell's width.[1]
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Distribution edit
This species occurs in North America, from Maine to Florida, and west to Oregon and New Mexico.[2]
Habitat edit
This small snail lives in damp leaf litter and decaying fallen beech logs. It is often found around polypore and bolete fungi.[3]
References edit
- ^ Burch J. B. (1962). How to Know the Eastern Land Snails. WM. C Brown Co., Dubuque, IA.
- ^ Burch J. B. & Jung Y. (1988). "Land Snails of the University of Michigan Biological Station Area". Society for Experimental and Descriptive Malacology, Walkerana 9.
- ^ Pilsbry H. A. (1948). Land Mollusca of North America (North of Mexico). The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Monographs, 3, vol. 2 part 2: 521-1113.
External links edit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Punctum minutissimum.