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Photo by Ann Buddenhagen
Photo Copyright Ann Buddenhagen; Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
Wet-rock Physa
Physella zionis
NatureServe conservation status
Global (G-rank): G1
State (S-rank): S1
External links
Phenology
"...copulation occurs during winter, spring, and summer, that eggs and youg occur throughout the year, and the P. zionis overwinters principally in rock fissures and as 1 mm long juveniles, but that some adults also overwinter." (U91CLA01UTUS).
Species range
Wet-rock physa only exists in Utah, specifically in Zion National Park.
Habitat
This species inhabits seeps and "hanging gardens," mainly on the vertical sandstone walls of the narrow canyons through which the North Fork of the Virgin River flows (Pilsbry 1926, Ng and Barnes 1986). These wet canyon walls are covered with algae (Pilsbry 1926), and the "hanging gardens" are composed of such plants as maidenhair ferns, cardinal flowers, and columbines (Whipple 1987). Gregg (1940) found several colonies of this species on "[w]et faces of cliffs" and one colony "on horizontal surfaces of large flat rocks at the base of the cliff as well as on the perpendicular surface of the cliff."
Ecology
Some researchers have observed robins preying on the snails (U83DNG01UTUS).
Reproductive characteristics
Copulation during winter, spring and summer (U91CLA01UTUS).
Threats or limiting factors
Threats to wet-rock physa include: predation, natural disasters, water usage and management, and tourism and recreation.
