Boreal top

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Species of mollusc

title: "Boreal top" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["valloniidae"] description: "Species of mollusc" topic_path: "general/valloniidae" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boreal_top" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Species of mollusc ::

The boreal top or boreal top snail (Zoogenetes harpa) is species of minute, air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the family Valloniidae, and the sole species in the genus Zoogenetes.

Z. harpa occurs in the northern United States, across Canada, as well as in Scandinavia, the Swiss Alps, Russia, and Japan.

Description, habitat, and status

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Zoogenetes_harpa_Morse_1864_(cropped,_figures_1-3).png" caption="Three views of Zoogenetes harpa from Morse (1864)"] ::

The boreal top snail is species of minute, air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the family Valloniidae. They are generally about 4 mm in length as an adult. It is the sole species in the genus Zoogenetes.

Its cone-shaped shell is reddish-brown, with ridges along the bottom spirals. Z. harpa is most active during fall and spring, when temperatures are more mild and moisture levels are higher. It lives on the bottom of logs and debris, often near or at the bottom of canyons with predominantly fir forests.

The snail is not considered generally endangered, though populations in some locations are considered threatened to varying degrees.

Distribution

Z. harpa occurs in the northern United States and across Canada, and was discovered in the Uinta Mountains in northeastern Utah in April 2021, where it is now considered "likely native". It is also found in Scandinavia, Russia, the Swiss Alps, and Japan.

Predators

Predators of Z. harpa include small mammals, insects, and birds such as wild turkeys and grouse.

References

References

  1. Morse E. S. 1864. [https://archive.org/details/journalofportlan111864port/page/62 Observations on the terrestrial Pulmonifera, including a catalogue of all species of terrestrial and fluviatile Mollusca known to inhabit the state]. Journal of the Portland Society of Natural History 1 (1): 1-63, Pl. I-II [= 1-2 ], 3-10.
  2. Say T. 1824. Appendix. In: Keating W. H., editor. Narrative of an expedition to the source of the St. Peter's River, Lake Winnepeck, Lake of the Woods, &c., &c. performed in the year 1823, by order of the Hon. J.C. Calhoun, secretary of war, under the command of Stephan H. Long, major U.S.T.E., [https://archive.org/details/narrativeofexp02keat/page/256 Volume 2: Page 256]. Philadelphia: H.C. Carey & I. Lea.

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valloniidae