3.9 Snails
resources, such as food and space, and indirectly through changes in ecosystem function (Hall et al. 2003; Richards 2004; Kerans et al. 2005; Lysne et al. 2008) . Many species of terrestrial gastropod, including those found throughout North Carolina, are known to be a vector for common parasites. For instance, the Flamed Tigersnail is known to be an intermediary host for Parelaphostrongylus tenuis , a common meningeal nematode parasite of White-tailed Deer and other ungulate species (Lankester and Anderson 1968; Anderson and Prestwood 1981; Garvon and Bird 2005) . North Carolina is home to the only known population of the state-listed endangered Greenfeld Rams-horn, a large planorbid snail historically found only in Greenfeld Lake and Orton Pond. Likewise, the Magnifcent Rams-horn was historically known from two freshwater ponds in Brunswick County. When populations are so small, confned to spe- cifc landscapes, or associated with unique habitats, they are at extreme risk of extinction from any threat but moreso from transportation, utility, and development (Mallin 2010) . 3.9.7 Additional Information In 2013, the AFS Endangered Species Committee on freshwater gastropods developed a list of snails in Canada and the United States found in freshwater habitats. Te Committee’s assessment indicates that about 64% of freshwater snails are in some level of imperilment, including 53 species found in North Carolina, and another 10% are considered extinct. More information is available on the USGS website: http://f.biology.usgs.gov/afs_snail/ index.html. Collections on land snails can be found at a number of museums around the country. Review of those collections will be critical to better verify species identifcations and distri- butions for records pertaining to North Carolina. Collections are available at the • NC Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, NC. Te Invertebrates Collection is world- wide in scope, with emphasis on localities in the eastern United States. Te core of the holdings are collections acquired from state agencies (e.g., NCWRC), the Institutes of Marine Sciences (IMS), and a private collection from Herbert D. Athearn, Tennessee, which contains over 23,000 lots of freshwater mollusks: http://www.naturalsciences. org/research/invertebrates-collection. • Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL. Te collections of L. Hubricht are avail- able on the web. • Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA. Te collections of H. A. Pilsbry are housed here, which form the basis for the monograph of land snails of North America (see key references).
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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