Cepaea

Cepaea is a genus of medium-sized air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Helicidae. The shells of species within this genus are often brightly colored and patterned with stripes.[2] The two species from this genus, the common and widespread C. nemoralis and C. hortensis, have been model species for early studies of genetics and natural selection.[3] They occur in Europe, although introduced populations occur elsewhere in the world.[4]

For the plant genus, see its synonym Sedum.

Cepaea
White-lipped snail Cepaea hortensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Heterobranchia
Superorder:	Eupulmonata
Order:	Stylommatophora
Infraorder:	Helicoidei
Superfamily:	Helicoidea
Family:	Helicidae
Genus:	Cepaea Held, 1838[1]
Type species
Helix nemoralis Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms
Cepaea (Cepaea) Held, 1838 Helix (Tachaea) [sic] (incorrect subsequent spelling; junior homonym of Tachea Fleming, 1822 [Aves]) Helix (Tachea) W. Turton, 1831 (Invalid: junior homonym of Tachea Fleming, 1822 [Aves]) Hystrionica Scudder, 1882 Tachea W. Turton, 1831

Like many Helicidae, this genus of snails create and use love darts.[2]

Species

For a long time, four species were classified in the genus Cepaea.

A comparison between Cepaea hortensis (left) and Caucasotachea vindobonensis (right)

However, molecular phylogenetic studies suggested that the latter two should be placed in the unrelated genera Macularia and Caucasotachea:[5][6]

• Cepaea hortensis (O. F. Müller, 1774)
• Cepaea nemoralis (Linnaeus, 1758)
• Cepaea sylvatica (Draparnaud, 1801), now Macularia sylvatica
• Cepaea vindobonensis (Férussac, 1821), now Caucasotachea vindobonensis

References

1. Held, F. (1838). "Notizen über die Weichthiere Bayerns. (Fortsetzung)". Isis (Leipzig). 1837 (12): 902–921.
2. Robert Nordsieck. "Banded Snails (Cepaea Held 1838)". The Living World of Molluscs. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
3. Jones JS, Heith BH, Ralwings P (1977). "Polymorphism in Cepaea: a problem with too many solutions?". Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics. 8: 109–143. doi:10.1146/annurev.es.08.110177.000545.
4. "Genus summary for Cepaea". AnimalBase. 15 August 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
5. Neiber MT, Hausdorf B (2015). "Molecular phylogeny reveals the polyphyly of the snail genus Cepaea (Gastropoda: Helicidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 93: 143–149. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2015.07.022. PMID 26256642.
6. Neiber MT, Sagorny C, Hausdorf B (2016). "Increasing the number of molecular markers resolves the phylogenetic relationship of 'Cepaea' vindobonensis (Pfeiffer 1828) with Caucasotachea Boettger 1909 (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Helicidae)". Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research. 54 (1): 40–45. doi:10.1111/jzs.12116.

Further reading

• Yamazaki N.; Ueshima R.; Terrett J. A.; Yokobori S.; Kaifu M.; Segawa R.; Kobayashi T.; Numachi K.; Ueda T.; Nishikawa K.; Watanabe K.; Thomas R. H. (1997). "Evolution of pulmonate gastropod mitochondrial genomes: comparisons of complete gene organizations of Euhadra, Cepaea and Albinaria and implications of unusual tRNA secondary structures". Genetics. 145: 749–758.