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Cave Biology Data Portal
Subterranean biodiversity of North America and around the globe
AnimaliaMolluscaGastropodaStylommatophoraPolygyridaePatera

Flat Bladetooth
Patera appressa (Say, 1821)

Taxonomy

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Mollusca
Class Gastropoda
Order Stylommatophora
Family Polygyridae
Genus Patera
Species Patera appressa (Say, 1821)

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class
Trogloxene
Realm
Terrestrial

Distribution

Range

Known from 14 counties across five states.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia

Counties

Alabama
Marshall
Georgia
Dade
Kentucky
Edmonson, Laurel, Powell, Pulaski
Tennessee
Claiborne, Fentress, Jackson, Montgomery, Perry, Pickett, Putnam
Virginia
Lee

Conservation and management

NatureServe

G5 Secure

G1G2G3G4G5▲

National ranks

Canada
NNA
United States
N5 Secure

Subnational ranks

Ontario
SNA Not Applicable
Alabama
SNR Unranked
South Carolina
SNR Unranked
West Virginia
S4 Apparently Secure
Maryland
SNR Unranked
North Carolina
SU Unrankable
Ohio
SNR Unranked
Virginia
S4 Apparently Secure
Kentucky
S5 Secure
Indiana
SNR Unranked
Tennessee
S4 Apparently Secure

State and federal status

Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act

References

  • Bailey, V. 1933. Cave Life of Kentucky. US Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Biological Survey, Washington, DC, USA. 256 pp.
  • Barr, T.C., Jr. & Kuehne, R.A. 1971. Ecological studies in the Mammoth Cave system of Kentucky. II. The Ecosystem. Annales de Speleologie 26: 47–96. doi:10.5038/1827-806X.3.1.10
  • Giovannoli, L. 1933. Invertebrate life of Mammoth and other neighboring caves. In: Bailey, V. (ed), Cave Life of Kentucky, pp. 600–623.
  • Hubricht, L. 1964. Land snails from the caves of Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama. National Speleological Society Bulletin 26: 33–36.
  • Lewis, J.J. 2004. Interstate 66 karst faunal study. Environmental Impact Statement. 17 pp.
  • Lewis, J.J. 2005. A biological inventory of caves of the Cumberland Plateau. Tennessee Chapter Cave Program, The Nature Conservancy, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 156 pp.
  • Lewis, J.J. & Lewis, S.L. 2007. A biological reconnaissance of selected caves in the Highland Rim area of central Tennessee. Tennessee Chapter Cave Program, The Nature Conservancy, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 42 pp.
  • Lewis, J.J., Whitaker, J.O. & Krantz, G.W. 2010. A biological reconnaissance of the invertebrate fauna of twelve Tennessee caves with notes on the guanophilic mites of the genus Macrocheles. Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science 85: 53–61.
  • Peck, S.B. 1989. The cave fauna of Alabama. Part I. The terrestrial invertebrates (excluding insects). National Speleological Society Bulletin 51: 11–33.
  • Trumbore, L.E., Reynolds, R.J., Thomas, S.C., Orndorff, W., Cramphorn, B., Gladstone, N.S., Harden, C.W., Lewis, J.J., Milne, M.A., Ober, K.A., Shear, W.A., Stephen, C.D.R. & Zigler, K.S. 2024. Cave biodiversity of Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 86: 13–24. doi:10.4311/2022LSC0116
  • Zigler, K.S., Niemiller, M.L., Stephen, C.D.R., Ayala, B.N., Milne, M.A., Gladstone, N.S., Engel, A.S., Jensen, J.B., Camp, C.D., Ozier, J.C. & Cressler, A. 2020. Biodiversity from caves and other subterranean habitats of Georgia, USA. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 82: 125–167. doi:10.4311/2019LSC0125

How to cite this account

Patera appressa (Say, 1821). Cave Biology Data Portal, account SP-2780. https://cavebiology.org/species/patera-appressa/ (accessed 7 September 2026).

Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.

Spotted something wrong on this page? Report a correction. Accounts are compiled from many sources and corrections from people who know the group are the most useful email we get.

Cave Biology Data Portal

Species accounts, distributions, and conservation status for the subterranean fauna of North America and around the globe, with resources for the cave and karst research community.

Text and data CC BY 4.0. Images all rights reserved unless stated.

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