Renea singularis

Renea singularis
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 2.3)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
(unranked):	clade Caenogastropoda informal group Architaenioglossa
Superfamily:	Cyclophoroidea
Family:	Aciculidae
Genus:	Renea
Species:	R. singularis
Binomial name
Renea singularis Pollonera, 1905

Renea singularis is a species of land snail with an operculum, a terrestrial gastropod mollusk in the family Aciculidae.^[1] It was described by Pollonera in 1905. The common name is needle snail.^[2]

Distribution[]

This species is endemic to France. It has a very narrow distribution, being found only in the Alpes-Maritimes, in the Loup and Siagne valleys.^[3] Because of its limited distribution and rarity within its range it is considered threatened. The IUCN red list of endangered species lists it as vulnerable.^[1]

Description[]

These snails are between 3 and 4 mm long and 1.1 to 1.3 mm wide. Their elongated shells are light brown with fine ribbing (60-70 ribs with a penultimate whorl). The apertural margin in lateral view is oblique / and (-shaped, with an exaggerated sinulus, and a P-like opening at the suture in the last quarter of the last whorl. There is no cervical callus. The apertural margin can be thick.^[3]

R. singularis is possibly the end of an evolutionary line that begins with an almost straight apertural margin (in lateral view) towards a much more oblique and protruded margin with the needle snail having the longest sinulus along the suture.^[3]

References[]