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Allogona townsendiana (I. Lea, 1839)
Oregon Forestsnail
Family: Polygyridae
Species account author: Robert Forsyth.
Introduction to the Land Snails of BC

Photograph

© Robert Forsyth     (Photo ID #304)

Map

E-Fauna BC Static Map

Distribution of Allogona townsendiana in British Columbia in British Columbia

Introduction


The Oregon Forestsnail is restricted in distribution in British Columbia to the southwestern corner of the province. It is found typically in woods dominated by Bigleaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum) and is frequently associated with seepage areas. It is often associated with stinging nettle (Urtica dioica). This species is hermaphroditic, lays eggs, and may be slow-maturing and long-lived.

Species Information

Diagnosis

This species is most similar to Allogona ptychophora but differs in being larger and has coarser, more irregular axial riblets below the sutures and is frequently sculptured with fairly strong malleations.

Shell

Large, heliciform, brown or yellow-brown, with lighter coloured, irregular ribs; periostracum never hairy; lip thickened and expanded, white; aperture without denticles.

Habitat


Forests

Distribution


Global Distribution

BC to northwest Oregon.

BC Distribution

Fraser Valley; one isolated location on southeast Vancouver Island (Forsyth 2004; map data).

Notes


Etymology

Genus name derived from the Greek "allos" meaning "other" or "different" + "gona" , "genitalia"; the gender is feminine. The species is named after John Kirk Townsend (1809–51), the Philadelphia physician and naturalist who accompanied Thomas Nuttall on the 1834–35 Wyeth Expedition across the Rockies to Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River.

Status Information

Origin StatusProvincial StatusBC List
(Red Blue List)		COSEWIC
NativeS2RedE (Apr 2013)



BC Ministry of Environment: BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer--the authoritative source for conservation information in British Columbia.

Additional Notes

Recommended Reading

Forsyth, Robert G. 2004. Land Snails of British Columbia. Handbook. Royal BC Museum, Victoria.

Additional Range and Status Information Links

NatureServe Explorer

General References

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