How well do we know the well-known flamed tigersnail Anguispira alternata?

John Slapcinsky* and Ryan Corlett
Florida Museum of Natural History
University of Florida
1659 Museum Road
Gainesville, FL 32611 USA
slapcin@flmnh.ufl.edu

Anguispira alternata was the subject of some of the earliest ecological studies on snails and is arguably the best studied land snail species in eastern North America. However, the last two major revisions of the genus are more than 70 years old and not in close agreement. Both revisions recognize only a few highly variable species with numerous subspecies. More recently, morphological and genetic studies focused on limestone outcrop specialists demonstrate that the taxa treated as forms or subspecies of Anguispira cumberlandiana are probably species level taxa. Our DNA sequence and morphological data suggest that Anguispira alternata is also a complex of species with molecular clades that are congruent with morphologically recognizable groups, many of which overlap in range. This suggests there are several species confused with the broad ranging Anguispira alternata. Some of these species appear to be narrow range endemics that may warrant conservation concern and protection.

*Presenter