Gyraulus parvus

Gyraulus parvus is a species of freshwater snail in the family Planorbidae, the ram's horn snails. It is known by the common name ash gyro.^[1][3][4] It is native to much of North America and the Caribbean, where it occurs in Canada, the United States (including Puerto Rico), Mexico, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Cuba. It is also an introduced species in Eurasia, including Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, and Israel.^[1]

Gyraulus parvus
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Superorder:	Hygrophila
Family:	Planorbidae
Genus:	Gyraulus
Species:	G. parvus
Binomial name
Gyraulus parvus (Say, 1817)[2]
Synonyms
List Anisus (Gyraulus) laevis (Alder, 1838) Gyraulus (Gyraulus) laevis (Alder, 1838) Gyraulus (Torquis) laevis (Alder, 1838) Gyraulus (Torquis) parvus (Say, 1817) Gyraulus cressmani F. C. Baker, 1942 † Gyraulus cyclostomus F. C. Baker, 1934 † Gyraulus labiatus A. B. Leonard, 1948 † Gyraulus laevis (Alder, 1838) Gyraulus similaris (F. C. Baker, 1919) Gyraulus vermicularis albolineatus J. Henderson, 1933 Planorbis (Gyraulus) glaber Jeffreys, 1830 Planorbis (Gyraulus) laevis Alder, 1838 Planorbis (Gyraulus) parvus Say, 1817 Planorbis billingsii I. Lea, 1864 Planorbis concavus J. G. Anthony, 1843 Planorbis elevatus C. B. Adams, 1840 Planorbis glaber Jeffreys, 1830 Planorbis glaber var. compressa Lloyd, 1874 Planorbis laevis Alder, 1838 Planorbis parvus Say, 1817 Planorbis parvus var. walkeri Vanatta, 1902 Planorbis similaris F. C. Baker, 1919 Planorbis similis F. C. Baker, 1919 Planorbis thermalis Westerlund, 1885

This common snail occurs in many types of freshwater habitat, such as ponds and lakes.^[1] It consumes diatoms and other periphyton that it scrapes off of surfaces. It sometimes rests attached to water plants.^[3]

This snail has a thin, transparent, whitish-gray shell measuring 2.5 to 5 millimeters wide. It has 4 to 5 whorls. The upper side is concave and the lower side is flat.^[5]

This snail is an intermediate host for schistosomes that cause swimmer's itch.^[6]