Brook Floater vs Clinging Snakefern

Alasmidonta varicosa compared with Microgramma heterophylla

Key Differences

Brook Floater is Vulnerable while Clinging Snakefern is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Brook Floater	Clinging Snakefern
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Mollusca (Mollusks)	Tracheophyta
Class	Bivalvia (Bivalvia)	Polypodiopsida (Polypodiopsida)
Order	Unionida (Unionida)	Polypodiales (Polypodiales)
Family	Unionidae	Polypodiaceae
Genus	Alasmidonta	Microgramma
Species	Alasmidonta varicosa	Microgramma heterophylla

Conservation Status

Brook Floater

VU — Vulnerable

Clinging Snakefern

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Brook Floater	Clinging Snakefern
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Brook Floater

Habitat

Native to North America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Found in United States. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Clinging Snakefern

Habitat

Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies.

Range

Found in Cuba.

Brook Floater

The Brook Floater (Alasmidonta varicosa) is a species in the genus Alasmidonta. It is currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Native to North America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Clinging Snakefern

Clinging Snakefern, Microgramma species, is a genus of small epiphytic ferns in the family Polypodiaceae found in tropical and subtropical forests of the Americas, from Florida and the Caribbean through Central America to South America. The ferns cling tightly to tree bark and rock surfaces using creeping rhizomes with specialized clinging scales, making them true epiphytes that depend entirely on the host surface for physical support while deriving all their water and nutrients from rainfall and atmospheric deposition. The common name 'snakefern' refers to the slender, creeping rhizomes that resemble snakes threading through moss and bark. The fronds are small and simple, either entirely fertile bearing sori on their undersurface or sterile with entire margins. Clinging snakeferns contribute to the high epiphyte diversity of tropical forest canopies and are important components of the moss-and-lichen matrix on tree trunks in humid forests. They are sensitive to moisture availability and desiccation and are among the first species to decline when humid forest is cleared or fragmented. Several Microgramma species are used as ornamental plants in warm-climate gardens for their ability to creep over rocks and tree stumps. Conservation status varies by species within the genus.