Cantareus apertus

Cantareus apertus,[3] and commonly known as the green garden snail, is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Helicidae, the typical snails.

Cantareus apertus
Cantareus apertus
NE[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Eupulmonata
clade Stylommatophora
informal group Sigmurethra
Superfamily:
Helicoidea
Family:
Helicidae
Genus:
Cantareus
Species:
C. apertus
Binomial name
Cantareus apertus
(Born, 1778)[2]
Synonyms
  • Cornu apertus (Born, 1778) (superseded generic combination)
  • Helix (Cantareus) apertus (Born, 1778)
  • Helix aperta Born, 1778 (original combination)
  • Helix naticoides Draparnaud, 1801 (junior synonym)

Distribution

Cantareus apertus is native to Europe primarily near the Mediterranean Sea, and also North Africa.

Distribution of Cantareus apertus include:

In Salento it is known as municeḍḍe and in Sicily as attuppateḍḍu.

It has also been introduced to other areas:

This species is already established in the United States, 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.[6]

dorsal view of Cantareus apertus
shells of Cantareus apertus
Five views of a shell of Cantareus apertus

Description

The shell has periostracum which is olive green in colour.[4] The last whorl is much larger than the others.[4] The width of the shell is 22–28 mm.; the height of the shell is also 22–28 mm.[4]

Ecology

Cantareus apertus inhabits Mediterranean shrublands, near cultivated fields, gardens.[4] In Gavdos (Greece) also in woodland spreading on recently abandoned cultivated fields, more rarely in natural habitats.[4]

In Crete this species is active for 3–4 months after the first rainfalls in October. It aestivates buried relatively deep in the soil.[4] In hot, dry weather, it burrows three to six inches into the ground and becomes dormant until rain softens the soil. A white convex epiphragm is created for aestivation.[4]

love dart of Cantareus apertus

This species of snail makes and uses love darts.

References

This article incorporates public domain text from the reference.[4]

  1. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Cited 8 May 2007.
  2. Born I. (1778). Index rerum naturalium Musei Caesarei Vindobonensis. Pars I.ma. Testacea. Verzeichniß der natürlichen Seltenheiten des k. k. Naturalien Cabinets zu Wien. Erster Theil. Schalthiere. pp. [1-40], 1-458, [1-82]. Vindobonae.
  3. For those who regard Cornu as available and who classify Helix apertus and Helix aspersa in the same genus and do not like to use Helix for them, the name should be Cornu apertum, but this combination has very rarely been used.
  4. "Species summary for Helix apertus". AnimalBase, last modified 24 January 2010, accessed 13 October 2010.
  5. 2. Helix apertus (Born)
  6. 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 Archived 16 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.