Pleurocera is a genus of freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod molluscs in the family Pleuroceridae.[2]

Pleurocera
Apertural view of a shell of Pleurocera acuta
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Superfamily: Cerithioidea
Family: Pleuroceridae
Genus: Pleurocera
Rafinesque, 1818[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Ceriphasia Swainson, 1840
  • Cerithidea (Ceriphasia) Swainson, 1840
  • Oxytrema Rafinesque, 1819
  • Pleurocera (Strephobasis) I. Lea, 1861
  • Pleuroceras Cossmann, 1909
  • Pleurocerus
  • Strephobasis I. Lea, 1861
  • Strepoma Haldeman, 1864
  • Telescopella Gray, 1847
  • Trypanostoma I. Lea, 1862

Pleurocera is the type genus of that family.

Distribution edit

All members of the genus Pleurocera are native to eastern North America.[3]

Description edit

All of the species in this genus have thick-walled high-spired shells, and some attain a length of over 4 cm (1.6 in). The shape of the shell is elongate-conic or cylindrical.[3] The sculpture of the shell is often carinate or costate.[3] The shell of larger species sometimes develops sculpturing and a small siphonal canal or siphonal notch at the base of the aperture.[3]

Opercula are paucispiral and corneous, but may be vestigial in some species, not completely closing the aperture.

The soft parts of the animal usually have a gray or brown coloration, commonly speckled with orange. The similar genus Juga has a seminal receptacle, but Pleurocera has no seminal receptacle.[3]

Species edit

Species within the genus Pleurocera include:[2][4]


  • Pleurocera acuta Rafinesque, 1831 - sharp hornsnail, type species of the genus Pleurocera[5]
  • Pleurocera alveare Conrad, 1834 - rugged hornsnail
  • Pleurocera annulifera Conrad, 1834 - ringed hornsnail
  • Pleurocera attenuata (I. Lea, 1862)
  • Pleurocera brumbyi I. Lea, 1852 - spiral hornsnail
  • Pleurocera burkevillensis Stenzel & F. E. Turner, 1944
  • Pleurocera canaliculata (Say, 1821) - silty hornsnail
  • Pleurocera corpulenta Anthony, 1854 - corpulent hornsnail
  • Pleurocera foremani I. Lea, 1843 - rough hornsnail
  • Pleurocera gigantica Naranjo-García & Aguillón, 2019
  • Pleurocera gradata (J. G. Anthony, 1854) - bottle hornsnail
  • Pleurocera guantouensis W. Yü, 1980
  • Pleurocera nicolayana (Hartt, 1870)
  • Pleurocera nobilis (I. Lea, 1845) - noble hornsnail
  • Pleurocera parva (I. Lea, 1862) - dainty hornsnail
  • Pleurocera picta (I. Lea, 1841)
  • Pleurocera postellii (I. Lea, 1862) - broken hornsnail
  • Pleurocera prasinata (Conrad, 1834) - smooth hornsnail
  • Pleurocera pyrenella Conrad, 1834 - skirted hornsnail
  • Pleurocera showalterii I. Lea, 1862 - upland hornsnail
  • Pleurocera striata (I. Lea, 1862) - striate hornsnail
  • Pleurocera trochiformis (Conrad, 1834) - sulcate hornsnail
  • Pleurocera uncialis (Haldeman, 1842) - pagoda hornsnail
  • Pleurocera vestita (Conrad, 1834) - brook hornsnail
  • Pleurocera viridula (J. G. Anthony, 1854)
  • Pleurocera walkeri Goodrich, 1928 - telescope hornsnail
  • Pleurocera warrenana (Meek & Hayden, 1857)
Species brought into synonymy
  • Pleurocera acutum Rafinesque, 1824: synonym of Pleurocera acuta
  • Pleurocera bicinctum Tryon, 1866: synonym of Pleurocera picta
  • Pleurocera conradi Tryon, 1865: synonym of Pleurocera pyrenella
  • Pleurocera costulatum Fuchs, 1870: synonym of Goniochilus costulatus (Fuchs, 1870)
  • Pleurocera currierana (I. Lea, 1863): synonym of Pleurocera brumbyi
  • Pleurocera curta (Haldeman, 1841: synonym of Pleurocera picta
  • Pleurocera hinkleyi Goodrich, 1921: synonym of Pleurocera acuta
  • Pleurocera kochii Fuchs, 1870: synonym of Goniochilus kochii (Fuchs, 1870)
  • Pleurocera laeve T. Fuchs, 18701: synonym of Micromelania laevis
  • Pleurocera leaii Tryon, 1873: synonym of Pleurocera prasinata
  • Pleurocera lewisii (I. Lea, 1862): synonym of Pleurocera acuta
  • Pleurocera parkeri Tryon, 1873: synonym of Elimia viennaensis
  • Pleurocera parkerii Tryon, 1873: synonym of Pleurocera canaliculata
  • Pleurocera plicatum Tryon, 1863: synonym of Pleurocera alveare
  • Pleurocera postelli (I. Lea, 1862): synonym of Pleurocera postellii
  • Pleurocera quadrosa Rafinesque, 1831: synonym of Pleurocera canaliculata
  • Pleurocera radmanesti Fuchs, 1870: synonym of Prososthenia radmanesti
  • Pleurocera scalariaeforme T. Fuchs, 1870: synonym of Goniochilus scalariaeformis
  • Pleurocera schwabenaui T. Fuchs, 1870: synonym of Goniochilus schwabenaui
  • Pleurocera shenandoa Dillon, 2019: synonym of Elimia shenandoa
  • Pleurocera showalteri: synonym of Pleurocera showalterii
  • Pleurocera spinosa (Deshayes, 1834): synonym of Cerithium spinosum Bruguière, 1792
  • Pleurocera strombiforme (Schlotheim, 1820): synonym of Paraglauconia strombiforme
  • Pleurocera subulare (I. Lea, 1831): synonym of Pleurocera acuta
  • Pleurocera terebriformis (J. Morris, 1859): synonym of Pachychilus terebriformis
  • Pleurocera verrucosa Rafinesque, 1820: synonym of Lithasia verrucosa
Nomen nudum
  • Pleurocera angulata Rafinesque, 1818
  • Pleurocera coneola Rafinesque, 1818
  • Pleurocera fasciata Rafinesque, 1818
  • Pleurocera retusa Rafinesque, 1818
  • Pleurocera saxatilis Rafinesque, 1818
  • Pleurocera turricula Rafinesque, 1818

Pleurocera gonula Rafinesque, 1831 (nomen dubium)

Ecology edit

Most species inhabit larger rivers.[3]

Pleurocera snails are dioecious.[3]

References edit

  1. ^ Rafinesque (1818). Amer. mon. Mag. 3(5): 355.
  2. ^ a b c MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Pleurocera Rafinesque, 1818. Accessed at: http://www.molluscabase.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=820483 on 2023-10-31
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Dillon R. T. (2011). "Robust Shell Phenotype is a Local Response to Stream Size in the Genus Pleurocera (Rafinesque, 1818)". Malacologia 53(2): 265-277. doi:10.4002/040.053.0205.
  4. ^ "Pleurocera". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  5. ^ Melville R. V. (1981). "Opinion 1195. Pleurocera Rafinesque, 1818 (Gastropoda): The type species is Pleurocerus acutus Rafinesque in Blainville, 1824". Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 38: 259–265.

External links edit