Species: Algamorda newcombiana
Newcomb's Littorine Snail
Species
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Articles:
This article was originally published by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife as part of its annual report Threatened and Endangered Wildlife in Washington.
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Mollusca
Class
Gastropoda
Order
Neotaenioglossa
Family
Littorinidae
Genus
Algamorda
NatureServe
Ecology and Life History
Food Comments
Presumably feeds on SALICORNIA vegetation by rasping the surfaces to remove small particles for digestion. Other vegetation may also be acceptable.
Reproduction Comments
<b>Egg masses of </b><b>15-40 </b><b>eggs per mass are laid in</b><br><b>June and July in moist locations where they will be</b><br><b>submerged during most high tides. The early egg masses</b><br><b>are light in color and tough in texture and become</b><br><b>darker and softer as they </b><b>age. </b><b>The larvae emerge from</b><br><b>these egg masses and crawl away as fully formed</b><br><b>juvenile snails (pers. obs.). Hatchlings occur in mid</b>July with increasing abundance through late July and<br>early August.
Ecology Comments
Its optimal distribution within its ecosystem is at, or slightly above, mean high tide so that its is submerged in sea water only a few hours per year. In the past, sawmill waste has had a devastating effect on its habitat and, consequently, on the species itself (Keen 1970 and Jones 1977).
Distribution
Global Range
H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - This common cold-water North Pacific marine gastropod has a southernmost limit in North America in Humboldt Bay, California; but occurs from there north to the Gulf of Alaska and from there westward throughout the Aleutian Island chain, the Pribilof and Commander (Komandor) Islands, over to the east coast of Kamchatka, and in Russia south to the Kurile Islands (Reid, 1996). In the U.S. it is currently known only from Humboldt Bay, California; Coos Bay, Oregon; and Gray's Harbor, Washington (Jones, 1977; Taylor, 1981); but more localities undoubtedly exist and it was initially incorrectly thought to be a different species.
Global Range Code
H
Global Range Description
>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)