> Floridobia floridana (Frauenfeld 1863)
 
> Habitat & Distribution
The only Georgia records of this snail in our database are from artesian wells on Cumberland Island, in the extreme southeastern corner of the state.  Floridobia floridana becomes much more common further south, from the Suwanee River to Orlando and Hillsborough County (Thompson 1968).  It inhabits sloughs, ponds, ditches, lakes, springs, and streams with variable current and wave action.

> Ecology & Life history
No specific life history data are as yet available for Floridobia.  The largest populations of F. floridana encountered by Thompson (1968) were in springs and spring runs with clear water where vegetation is abundant.  Specimens are usually found on aquatic plants, especially rooted forms, but occasionally forage on sand, gravel, rock, and silt, especially if algae and diatoms are abundant (Thompson 1968).    Males bear a relatively large, bladelike penis above their heads, females lay single, hemispherical egg capsules (Hershler 1994).    

> Taxonomy & Systematics
Like Spilochlamys, Notogillia, and Marstonia, the genus Floridobia belongs to the hydrobiid subfamily Nymphophilinae, males being characterized by a lobe-shaped penis (or verge) with surficial glandular patterns.  The Floridobia penis has crescent-shaped terminal and ventral glands on its large terminal penial lobe and a slender flagellum (Kabat and Hershler 1993, Thompson 1968, 2004).  

The genus Floridobia has only recently been distinguished from Cincinnatia, on the basis of female reproductive anatomy (Thompson & Hershler 2002).  Interestingly, the molecular data of Liu & Hershler (2005) revealed little differentiation between Floridobia and the (primarily western) hydrobiid genus Pyrgulopsis.

> Map of Floridobia distribution (PDF)


> References
Hershler, R. (1994)  A review of the North American freshwater snail genus Pyrgulopsis (Hydrobiidae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 1994; 0(554):1-115.   Hershler, R., H. Liu, and F.G. Thompson (2003)  Phylogenetic relationships of North American nymphophiline gastropods based on mitochondrial DNA sequences.  Zoologica Scripta 32:357-366.    Kabat, A.R., and R. Hershler (1993) The prosobranch snail family Hydrobiidae (Gastropoda: Rissooidea): review of classification and supraspecific taxa. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 547:1-94.   Liu, H., and R. Hershler (2005)  Molecular systematics and radiation of western North American nympholine gastropods. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 34:284-298.  Thompson, F.G. (1968)  The Aquatic Snails of the Family Hydrobiidae of Peninsular Florida. University of Florida Press, Gainesville, Florida, USA.  Thompson, F.G. (2004)  An identification manual for the freshwater snails of Florida.   Thompson, F. G. & R. Hershler (2002)  Two genera of North American freshwater snails: Marstonia Baker, 1926, resurrected to generic status, and Floridobia, new genus (Prosobranchia: Hydrobiidae: Nymphophilinae).  The Veliger 45: 269 - 271.