Check List 16(3): 785-792, doi: 10.15560/16.3.785

Range extension of the poorly known and Critically Endangered freshwater snail, Heleobia transitoria (Biese, 1947) (Gastropoda, Cochliopidae), in the Atacama Desert, northern Chile

Gonzalo A. Collado^‡, Carmen Gloria Fuentealba^‡

‡ Universidad del Bio-Bio, Chillan, Chile

Corresponding author: Gonzalo A. Collado ( collado.gonzalo@gmail.com )

Academic editor: Leonardo Santos de Souza

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Citation: Collado GA, Fuentealba CG (2020) Range extension of the poorly known and Critically Endangered freshwater snail, Heleobia transitoria (Biese, 1947) (Gastropoda, Cochliopidae), in the Atacama Desert, northern Chile. Check List 16(3): 785-792. https://doi.org/10.15560/16.3.785

Abstract

The range distribution of Heleobia transitoria (Biese, 1947) is confined only to its type locality, Quebrada Cachina, a ravine located on the Atacama Desert coast in the Antofagasta Region, northern Chile. The species is classified as “En Peligro Crítico” according to Ministry of the Environment of Chile, a category equivalent to Critically Endangered (CR) of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, in part for its restricted distribution. This paper reports the occurrence of H. transitoria in the Atacama Region, Chile, after the study of morphological characters using light and scanning electron microscopy. This new record highlights considering the limited distribution and current conservation status of the species.

Keywords

Littoridina, endangered species, endemism, minute snails, spring snails.