Eobania vermiculata
| Eobania vermiculata | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Eobania vermiculata | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): | clade Heterobranchia clade Euthyneura |
| Superfamily: | Helicoidea |
| Family: | Helicidae |
| Genus: | Eobania |
| Species: | E. vermiculata |
| Binomial name | |
| Eobania vermiculata (O. F. Müller, 1774)[1] |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
Helix vermiculata O. F. Müller, 1774 |
|
Eobania vermiculata also known as Helix vermiculata, common name the "chocolate-band snail" is a species of large, air-breathing, land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Helicidae, the true snails or typical snails.
Eobania vermiculata is the type species of the genus Eobania.
Contents |
[edit] Distribution
This species of large land snail is common in the Mediterranean area and it ranges from eastern Spain to the Crimea:
Nonindigenous distribution of Eobania vermiculata include:
- This species has been introduced to southeastern Australia, where it is known as the chocolate-band snail.[4]
- One individual of this snail species was found living on a wall in Lewisham, London, England, in 2006.[5][6] It remains to be seen if a colony will establish itself or not.
This species is already established in the USA, and is considered to represent a potentially serious threat as a pest, an invasive species which could negatively affect agriculture, natural ecosystems, human health or commerce. Therefore it has been suggested that this species be given top national quarantine significance in the USA.[7]
[edit] Description
The color of the shell is very variable, whitish to greenish yellow, often with colour bands or spots.[3] Lower side is frequently with two brown bands and whitish between lowest band and umbilicus.[3] The shell has 4-4.5 whorls.[3] The last whorl is descending abruptly below periphery.[3] The apertural margin is white, reflected in adult shells, in juveniles only at columellar side.[3] The umbilicus is narrow and open in juveniles, partly covered by the reflected columellar margin, completely closed in adult shells.[3]
The width of the shell is 22–32 mm.[3] The height of the shell is 14–24 mm.[3]
In northern Greece variation seems to be lower than in southern Greece (Gávdos island: 24.5-33.5 mm in diameter of adult shells, average 28–29 mm, with no local variations in shell size).[3]
|
|
Juveniles differ from Theba pisana (with likewise umbilicus) by the larger size of the apex.[3]
[edit] Ecology
Eobania vermiculata live in a broad variety of habitats, usually in dry vegetation, mainly in coastal vicinity, also in agricultural crops.[3] It is very common in Crete, the species lives on practically every small island in the south Aegean.[3]
In northern Greece copulation takes place after the first rainfalls in autumn.[3] These snails create and use love darts as part of their mating behavior. Around 70 eggs per snail are laid 20 days later.[3] The size of the egg is 4.1 × 3 mm.[8] Juveniles hatch shortly after and grow about 12–13 mm in diameter per year for 2 years (growth is usually restricted to February to June in northern Greece, in Crete this period ends already in May).[3] Maturity is reached after 2 years when the diameter reaches 25 mm, the umbilicus becomes closed and the apertural margin becomes reflected.[3] Snails reach 29–30 mm diameter in May/June of the second year in northern Greece (in April in Crete), reaching a maximum diameter (33 mm) may take 5 years or more, but mortality increases greatly after 2 years.[3]
About 20 % of the snails in a population survive to lay eggs in the 3rd year, 5 % of the snails lay eggs again in the 4th year.[3] The mortality rates decrease with age.[3] The animals hibernate (in northern Greece) or aestivate (in Crete), but juveniles and adults show differences in their behaviour.[3] Adults dig into the soil and build an epiphragm, while juveniles search protected places under stones or leaves of low plants.[3]
[edit] Human use
The species is commercialized and exported from Greece to France, which led Lazaridou-Dimitriadou & Kattoulas (1981)[9] to propose restrictions for size and seasons of collection.[3]
[edit] References
This article incorporates public domain text from the reference.[3]
- ^ 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]. Havniae & Lipsiae. (Heineck & Faber).
- ^ a b Commonwealth of Australia. (April 2002). "Citrus Imports from the Arab Republic of Egypt. A Review Under Existing Import Conditions for Citrus from Israel". Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Australia. Caption: Gastropods, page 12 and Appendix 2.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa "Species summary for Eobania vermiculata". AnimalBase. Last modified 31 August 2010, accessed 13 October 2010.
- ^ Eobania vemiculata. accessed 4 November 2008.
- ^ Notton D. (2006). "Eobania vermiculata in the UK". Mollusc World 11: 6.
- ^ JRS (December 2006). "Aliens: what can they teach us?". The Archeo+Malacology Group Newsletter (10): page 7.
- ^ Cowie R. H., Dillon R. T., Robinson D. G. & Smith J. W. (2009). "Alien non-marine snails and slugs of priority quarantine importance in the United States: A preliminary risk assessment". American Malacological Bulletin 27: 113-132. PDF.
- ^ Heller J. (2001). Life History Strategies. In: Barker G. M. (ed.) The biology of terrestrial molluscs. CABI Publishing, Oxon, UK, 2001, ISBN 0-85199-318-4. 1-146, cited page: 428.
- ^ Lazaridou-Dimitriadou M. & Kattoulas M. (1981). "Contribution a l'étude de la biologie et de la croissance des escargots commercialisés en Grèce: Eobania vermiculata (Müller) et Helix aspersa Müller". Haliotis 11: 129-137.
[edit] External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Eobania vermiculata |
