Leptoxis carinata has a strong globose shell, with highly variable sculpture. In various creeks and rivers throughout its range, populations may be found with spiral cords, a single carina or keel, variously developed, or lacking sculpture.
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Distribution
This species occurs in unpolluted large creeks and high-gradient rivers in the Atlantic drainages of the United States, from New York to North Carolina.[4][2]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2009)
Ecology
Habitat
Leptoxis carinata is found in high-gradient streams, generally in the faster flowing riffles and drops, where it clings firmly to large stones and bedrock exposures.
This species, unlike softer shelled physid snails, grows very slowly, and has the lowest intrinsic rate of increase (this means that populations grow very slowly), along with Elimia virginica, in this environment.[6]
^Hamilton, S. 1980. Reproduction or shell armor – a trade off in freshwater gastropods. The Bulletin of the American Malacological Union, Inc. 46:71.
Further reading
Stewart T. W. & Garcia J. E. (2002). "Environmental Factors Causing Local Variation in Density and Biomass of the Snail Leptoxis carinata, in Fishpond Creek, Virginia". American Midland Naturalist148(1) 172–180. JSTOR.
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