About Juga plicifera (I.Lea, 1838)
Juga plicifera, common names pleated juga and graceful keeled horn snail, is a species of small freshwater snail in the gastropod mollusk family Semisulcospiridae. It has an ovate, corneous operculum, and its shell measures between 16 mm and 35 mm in length. The shell is dextrally coiled with around 15 whorls, and 10 to 12 axial plicae are present on each whorl. This species is distributed across northwestern Oregon and Washington, USA, where it occurs in lakes, rivers, creeks, and tributaries. Juga plicifera clings to rocks or substrate in slow-flowing streams, and can also be found on muddy-sand bottoms of small and medium lakes, and prefers shaded locations. It favors cool, clear water, but has a higher tolerance for siltation and slack water than another species in the Juga genus, Juga newberryi. Ecologically, Juga plicifera acts as an intermediate host for the parasite Nanophyetus salmincola.
