Virginia Fringed Mountain Snail

The Virginia Fringed Mountain Snail (Polygyriscus virginianus) was thought to have been extinct until 1971 when a live specimen was found in Pulaski County. It was added to the endangered species list on July 3, 1978. The shell is normally 0.18 inches in diameter and 0.06 inches in height. The color of the shell is greenish and the actually body of the snail is a pale white. Some think it is also blind.

The Virginia Fringed Mountain Snail lives in an area with limestone mixed with clay soil. The snail also can be found around permanently damp rock fragments and angled limestone. They live approximately up to 24inches in the ground and rarely come up to the surface except for extreme wet weather.

It is unclear on what this animal may eat, but most other snails are herbivores and eat decaying plant matter such as leaves and tree bark. Little is known of their mating rituals and that they are hermaphrodites. After mating, both male and female give birth to live young.

Only 30 Mountain Snails have been found and the total number of living ones is unknown. The problems that face this animal are habitat loss, pesticides, animals, and fires.

A snail might not seem like a loss that would affect anything, but remember that there is a circle that is followed. What the snail eats helps keep the soil clean and the snail droppings help keep the soil fertilized. Like earthworms, their holes help till the soil under the roots and provide oxygen and nutrients.

Sources:

http://www.earthsendangered.com/profile.asp?view=c&ID=9&sp=850

http://www.fws.gov/northeast/virginiafield/PDFS/EndSpecies/Fact_Sheets/va%20mnt%20snail.pdf