{{Short description|Genus of air-breathing land snails}} {{For|the similarly named bacteria|holosporaceae}} {{Automatic_taxobox | image = Holospira elizabethae shell.jpg | image_caption = Shell of ''Holospira elizabethae'' | taxon = Holospira | authority = von Martens, 1860<ref>von Martens E. (1860). In: Albers, ''Helic.'', ed. 2: 39.</ref> | synonyms = | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text }}
'''''Holospira''''' is a genus of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the family Urocoptidae.
[[File:Holospira elizabethae columella.jpg|left|thumb|Drawing of the cross section of the shell of ''Holospira elizabethae'' showing that the internal columella is hollow, which is typical feature of the genus.]]
''Holospira'' is the type genus of the subfamily 'Holospirinae Pilsbry, 1946'.
== Etymology == ''Holos'' (ὅλος) from Ancient Greek means "‘whole’" or "‘entire’" and ''spira'' (spīra) from Latin means spire.
== Shell description == The shell is small, cylindric, terminating above in a conic spire, retaining all the whorls, rimate or perforate. The shell has 11-21 whorls, which are closely coiled. The first 1½ of whorls are smooth. The rest of whorls are smooth, striate or ribbed. The suture is superficial. Body whorl is more or less built forward.<ref name="Pilsbry"/>
The aperture is small, obliquely pear-shaped, rounded or oval. The peristome is expanded or reflected, continuous and usually free throughout.<ref name="Pilsbry"/>
The columella (internal column) is hollow, variously sculptured or smooth.<ref name="Pilsbry"/>
== Anatomy == [[File:Holospira elizabethae 2.jpg|left|thumb|Drawing of ''Holospira elizabethae''.]] The foot is small, narrow for its length.<ref name="Pilsbry"/>
The lung is long and narrow. Kidney is very narrowly triangular, being wider at the base, tapering anteriorly, slightly longer than the pericardium. There is apparently no secondary ureter.<ref name="Pilsbry"/>
The buccal mass is small, about twice as long as wide, the oesophagus opening well forward. Salivary glands are not united, and in ''Holospira goldfussi'' they have long ducts.<ref name="Pilsbry"/>
The jaw is thin, arcuate, with a wide median projection below or none.<ref name="Pilsbry"/> The radula is about four times as long as wide, with from 19.1.19 teeth (in ''Holospira pilsbryi'') to 27.1.27 (in ''Holopsira nelsoni'').<ref name="Pilsbry"/>
The genital system is like this: there is an atrium of moderate length, the penis is short, with a very long vas deferens, the retractor muscle (p. r.) being inserted at or just beyond the slightly swollen penis, and proximally attached to the floor of the lung, as usual.<ref name="Pilsbry"/>
The free retractor muscles, attached proximally to the axis at about the junction of the cone with the cylindrical portion of the shell, are excessively long.<ref name="Pilsbry"/>
== Distribution == The geographic range of this genus extends from southern Mexico to Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. These snails are not found in Lower California nor Guatemala on the southeast.<ref name="Pilsbry"/>
== Habitat == They are confined chiefly to the elevated plateau, where they live under cacti, etc., in sunny places.<ref name="Pilsbry"/>
These snails can tolerate great heat.<ref name="Pilsbry"/>
Henry Augustus Pilsbry (1903) states, that living specimens of ''Holospira strobeliana'' and ''Holospira nelsoni'' survived immersion in boiling water for some minutes. Unlike other snails, they did not retract in the water.<ref name="Pilsbry"/>
== Species == Species in the genus ''Holospira'' include:<ref>[https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=77038 Holospira]. ITIS. accessed 19 June 2009.</ref><ref>[http://pick4.pick.uga.edu/mp/20q?search=Holospira ''Holospira'']. Discover Life, accessed 26 June 2009</ref><!-- species without authority are from "Discover Life" website --> * ''Holospira acanthidia'' * ''Holospira aguerreverei'' * ''Holospira albertoi'' * ''Holospira alvarezensis'' * ''Holospira animasensis'' Gilbertson & Worthington, 2003<ref>Gilbertson L. H. & Worthington R. D. 2003. [http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=14959945 ''A new species of Holospira (Pulmonata: Urocoptidae) from New Mexico'']. The Veliger, 46(3): 220-224.</ref> from subgenus ''Eudistemma'' * ''Holospira arizonensis'' Stearns, 1890 - Arizona holospira * ''Holospira aurantiaca'' * ''Holospira bilamellata'' Dall, 1895 - bilamellate holospira * ''Holospira bostrichocentrum'' * ''Holospira campestris'' Pilsbry & Ferriss, 1915 * ''Holospira campo'' * ''Holospira chazumbae'' * ''Holospira chiricahuana'' Pilsbry, 1905 - Cave Creek holospira * ''Holospira cionella'' Pilsbry, 1905 * ''Holospira cockerelli'' Dall, 1897 - Cockerell holospira * ''Holospira colymis'' * ''Holospira cremnobates'' * ''Holospira crossei'' Dall, 1895 - Cross holospira * ''Holospira dalli'' Pilsbry * ''Holospira danielsi'' Pilsbry & Ferriss, 1915 - strongrib holospira * ''Holospira denserpens'' * ''Holospira dentaxis'' * ''Holospira durangoensis'' * ''Holospira eburnea'' * ''Holospira elizabethae'' Pilsbry, 1889 * ''Holospira fergusoni'' Gilbertson & Naranjo-García, 2010<ref>Gilbertson L. H. & Naranjo-García E. (2010). "A new species of ''Holospira'' (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Urocoptidae) from Coahuila, Mexico". ''Nautilus'' [http://www.shellmuseum.org/nautilus/nautilus_contents_124.html '''124''']: 181-184.</ref> * ''Holospira ferrissi'' Pilsbry, 1905 - stocky holospira * ''Holospira fortisculpta'' * ''Holospira goldfussi'' (Menke, 1847) - New Braunfels holospira ** ''Holospira goldfussi anacachensis'' Bartsch<ref>Kathryn E. Perez. (last edited September 12, 2006) [http://www.unc.edu/~keperez/land%20snails%20of%20Texas.html ''Land Snail List for Texas''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430203637/http://www.unc.edu/~keperez/land%20snails%20of%20Texas.html |date=2009-04-30 }}. accessed 25 June 2009.</ref> * ''Holospira goldmani'' * † ''Holospira grangeri'' Cockerell - fossil species from Eocene of New Mexico known only from type locality<ref name="Hartman">Joseph H. Hartman. 1981. [http://bulletin.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/92/12/942 ''Early Tertiary nonmarine Mollusca of New Mexico: A review'']. GSA Bulletin, Geological Society of America, December 1981, 92(12): 942-950. {{doi|10.1130/0016-7606}}.</ref> * ''Holospira haasai'' * ''Holospira hamiltoni'' Dall, 1897 - Hamilton holospira * ''Holospira haploplax'' * ''Holospira hinckleyi'' * ''Holospira hinkleyi'' * ''Holospira hoffmani'' * ''Holospira hogeana'' * ''Holospira hyperia'' * ''Holospira insolata'' * † ''Holospira leidyi'' (Meek) - synonym ''Pupa leidyi'' Meek - fossil species from Eocene of New Mexico<ref name="Hartman"/> * ''Holospira mariae'' * ''Holospira marmorata'' * ''Holospira maxwelli'' * ''Holospira mesolia'' Pilsbry, 1912 - widemouth holospira * ''Holospira metcalfi'' F. G. Thompson, 1974 - Metcalf holospira * ''Holospira milleri'' * ''Holospira millestriata'' Pilsbry & Ferriss, 1915 * ''Holospira millistriata'' * ''Holospira minima'' * ''Holospira montivaga'' Pilsbry, 1946 - vagabond holospira * ''Holospira morelosensis'' * ''Holospira nelsoni'' * ''Holospira odontoplax'' * ''Holospira orcutti'' * ''Holospira oritis'' Pilsbry & Cheatum, 1951 - mountain holospira * ''Holospira palmeri'' * ''Holospira pasonis'' Dall, 1895 - robust holospira * ''Holospira pedroana'' * ''Holospira pfeifferi'' * ''Holospira pilocerei'' Pfr. - type species * ''Holospira pilsbryi'' * ''Holospira pityis'' Pilsbry & Cheatum, 1951 - pinecone holospira * ''Holospira psectra'' * ''Holospira pupa'' * ''Holospira regis'' Pilsbry & Cockerell, 1905 - royal holospira * ''Holospira rehderi'' * ''Holospira remondii'' * ''Holospira rhinion'' * ''Holospira riograndensis'' Pilsbry, 1946 - Rio Grande holospira * ''Holospira saltillensis'' * ''Holospira scololaema'' * ''Holospira sherbrookei'' Gilbertson, 1989 - Silver Creek holospira * ''Holospira stalactella'' * ''Holospira stenopylis'' * ''Holospira stenopyus'' * ''Holospira tantalus'' Bartsch, 1906 - teasing holospira * ''Holospira temeroso'' * ''Holospira teotitlana'' * ''Holospira tryoni'' * ''Holospira whetstonensis'' Pilsbry & Ferriss, 1923 - Whetstone holospira * ''Holospira wilmotti'' * ''Holospira yucatanensis'' Bartsch, 1906 - Bartsch holospira * ''Holospira zygoptyx''
==References== This article incorporates public domain text from reference.<ref name="Pilsbry">Pilsbry H. A. 1903. ''Manual of Conchology. Second series: Pulmonata''. [https://archive.org/details/manualofconcholo15tryorich Volume 15 Urocoptidae]. [https://archive.org/stream/manualofconcholo15tryo#page/66/mode/2up page 66]-67.</ref>
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== Further reading == * Pilsbry H. A. (6 December) 1946. ''Land Mollusca of North America (north of Mexico), vol. II(1)'': 103, 111.
== External links == * Tony Gallucci & James F. Scudday. 1979. [https://www.jstor.org/pss/3670532 ''Holospira Mesolia (Urocoptidae) New to Brewster County, Texas'']. The Southwestern Naturalist, 24(4): page 691.
{{Taxonbar|from=Q3074524}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Urocoptidae Category:Taxa named by Eduard von Martens