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 | |
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Two shells of the species showing apical and apertural views | |
An unusually dark, subadult live individual of Eobania vermiculata | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
Subclass: | Heterobranchia |
Order: | Stylommatophora |
Family: | Helicidae |
Genus: | Eobania |
Species: | E. vermiculata
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Binomial name | |
Eobania vermiculata (O. F. Müller, 1774)[1]
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Synonyms | |
Helix vermiculata O. F. Müller, 1774 |
Eobania vermiculata is the type species of the genus Eobania.
This species of large land snail is common in the Mediterranean area; its distribution ranges from eastern Spain to Crimea:
The nonindigenous distribution of Eobania vermiculata includes:
This species is already established in the US, 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.[8]
E. vermiculata is able to survive winters in the North-West European temperate zone, including Belgium and The Netherlands.[7]
In this species the color of the shell is very variable. The background color can be whitish to greenish yellow, and the shell often has darker coloured bands or spots.[3] The ventral side of the shell frequently has two brown bands, and is whitish between the lowest band and the umbilicus.[3] The shell has 4-4.5 whorls.[3] The last whorl descends abruptly below the periphery of the shell.[3] The apertural margin is white, and is reflected (turned back)in adult shells, in juveniles this is true only on the columellar side.[3] The umbilicus is narrow and open in juveniles, only partly covered by the reflected columellar margin,; the umbilicus is however completely closed in adult shells.[3]
The width of the shell is 22–32 mm; the height of the shell is 14–24 mm.[3]
In northern Greece, the variability within the populations of this species seems to be lower than in southern Greece (Gávdos island: 24.5-33.5 m in diameter of adult shells, average 28–29 m, with no local variations in shell size).[3]
Juveniles somewhat resemble the species Theba pisana (which also has a similar umbilicus); however Eobania vermiculata can be differentiated from that species by its much larger apex.[3]
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.[9] 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]
The species is used for food. It is commercialized and exported from Greece to France, which led Lazaridou-Dimitriadou & Kattoulas (1981)[10] to propose restrictions on the size and seasons of collection for this species.[3]
This article incorporates public domain text from the reference.[3]