Cecilioides acicula
| Cecilioides acicula | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Two fresh shells of Cecilioides acicula The scale bar is in millimeters | |
| Conservation status | |
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NE[1]
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): | clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura |
| Superfamily: | Achatinoidea |
| Family: | Ferussaciidae |
| Genus: | Cecilioides |
| Subgenus: | Cecilioides |
| Species: | C. acicula |
| Binomial name | |
| Cecilioides acicula (O. F. Müller, 1774)[2] |
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| Synonyms | |
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Caecilianella acicula (Müller) |
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Cecilioides acicula, common name the "blind snail" or "blind awlsnail", is a species of very small, air-breathing land snail, a pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Ferussaciidae.
This is a subterranean species.
Contents |
[edit] Description
This animal has no eyes. The shell is long and narrow, up to a maximum of 5.5 mm and a width of 1.2 mm.[3] The shell is colorless, glassy and transparent when it is fresh, a somewhat opaque milky-white when it is not fresh.
[edit] Habitat
The habitat of this species is underground, quite some distance below the surface. It is more common in soils with a high level of calcium.[3]
Because of its subterranean habitat, this species is often found only as an empty shell, in such places as mole hills, ant hills, or in flood debris of rivers.
[edit] Distribution
Distribution of this species is central-European and southern-European.[4]
This species native range is Mediterranean Europe, specifically (Spain, …), Western Europe (Great Britain and Ireland[5], Netherlands[6], …) and Central Europe (Czech Republic - least concern (LC)[7], Poland, Slovakia, …).
It has also been accidentally introduced to several other countries:
- Latvia since 2006[8]
- Bermuda since 1861[9]
- The USA (in Pennsylvania and in Florida[10], in Maryland since 1959[11], in Virginia since 2006[12], in California, in New Jersey and in New Mexico[13])
- New Zealand[14].
- Australia [15]
[edit] References
- ^ IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 26 August 2008.
- ^ Müller, O. F. 1774. Vermivm terrestrium et fluviatilium, seu animalium infusoriorum, helminthicorum, et testaceorum, non marinorum, succincta historia. Volumen alterum. - pp. I-XXVI [= 1-36], 1-214, [1-10]. Havniæ & Lipsiæ. (Heineck & Faber).
- ^ a b M.P. Kerney and R.A.D. Cameron, 1979, A Field Guide to the Land Snails of Britain and North-west Europe. Collins, London, ISBN 0-00-219676-X
- ^ (Slovak) Lisický M. J. 1991. Mollusca Slovenska [The Slovak molluscs]. VEDA vydavateľstvo Slovenskej akadémie vied, Bratislava, 344 pp.
- ^ Anderson, R. 2005. An Annotated List of the Non-Marine Mollusca of Britain and Ireland. InvertebrateIreland Online, Ulster Museum, Belfast and National Museum of Ireland , Dublin http://www.habitas.org.uk/InvertebrateIreland/species.asp?item=4173, cited 26th August 2008.
- ^ http://www.anemoon.org/anm/voorlopige-kaarten/kaarten-per-soort/landmollusken/wetenschappelijk/cecilioides-acicula Cecilioides acicula, cited 27 August 2008
- ^ Juřičková L., Horsák M. & Beran L., 2001: Check-list of the molluscs (Mollusca) of the Czech Republic. Acta Soc. Zool. Bohem., 65: 25-40.
- ^ Šteffek J., Stalažs A. & Dreijers E., 2008: Snail fauna of the oldest cemeteries from Riga (Latvia). – Malacologica Bohemoslovaca, 7: 79–80. Online serial at <http://mollusca.sav.sk> 29-September-2008.
- ^ Bieler, R. & Slapcinsky, J. 2000. A case study for development of an island fauna: recent terrestrial mollusks of Bermuda. Nemouria No. 44:1-99.
- ^ Pilsbry, H.A. 1946. Land Mollusca of North America (north of Mexico). Volume 2, part 1. Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia.
- ^ Grimm, W. 1959. Land snails of Carroll County, Maryland. Nautilus 72:122-127.
- ^ Aydın Örstan 2007. A new record of Cecilioides acicula from North America (Pulmonata: Ferussaciidae). Triton, March 2007, no 15, page 38. See also http://snailstales.blogspot.com/2007/03/cecilioides-acicula-tiny-invader-from.html
- ^ http://www.natureserve.org cited in 26 August 2008 Comprehensive Report Species - Cecilioides acicula
- ^ Barker, G.M. 1999. Naturalised terrestrial Stylommatophora (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Fauna of New Zealand. No. 38. Manaaki Whenua Press.
- ^ Bonham K (2005) Cecilioides acicula (Muller 1774) (Pulmonata: Ferussaciidae), a burrowing land snail introduced into Tasmania Tasmanian Naturalist 127:42-44
