Helix albescens
| Helix albescens | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Heterobranchia |
| Order: | Stylommatophora |
| Family: | Helicidae |
| Genus: | Helix |
| Species: | H. albescens
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| Binomial name | |
| Helix albescens Rossmässler, 1839
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Helix albescens is a species of large air-breathing land snail from eastern Europe belonging to the family Helicidae.
Description[edit]
Helix albescens is a relatively small Helix species with globular shell, which is whitish to cream-brown, usually with five reddish-brown bands of which especially the second and third may partly fuse. Umbilicus closed, apertural margins may be brown. Characteristic is a very large protoconch (the embryonal shell).[1] The animal is yellow with a dark, brown back.
Distribution and habitat[edit]
Helix albescens is distributed in southern Ukraine, southwestern Russia (Ciscaucasia) and the Caucasus (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan).[1][2] The distribution of mitochondrial genetic lineages suggests that the species originates from Crimea.[3]
Reproduction[edit]
H. albescens is a hermaphrodite, meaning that it has both male and female reproductive organs. It lays its eggs in small clutches in damp soil, and the young snails hatch after several weeks. These egg clutches typically contain 10-25 eggs which are laid approximately 6 cm deep in the soil and will hatch after 10–15 days.[4]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Neubert, Eike (2014). "Revision of Helix Linnaeus, 1758 in its eastern Mediterranean distribution area, and reassignment of Helix godetiana Kobelt, 1878 to Maltzanella Hesse, 1917 (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Helicidae)". Contributions to Natural History. 26: 1–200.
- ^ Korábek, Ondřej; Juřičková, Lucie; Petrusek, Adam (2022). "Diversity of Land Snail Tribe Helicini (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora: Helicidae): Where Do We Stand after 20 Years of Sequencing Mitochondrial Markers?". Diversity. 14 (1): 24. doi:10.3390/d14010024. ISSN 1424-2818.
- ^ Korábek, Ondřej; Balashov, Igor; Neiber, Marco T.; Walther, Frank; Hausdorf, Bernhard (2023-11-15). "The Caucasus is neither a cradle nor a museum of diversity of the land snail genus Helix (Gastropoda, Stylommatophora, Helicidae), while Crimea is home to an ancient lineage". Zoosystematics and Evolution. 99 (2): 535–543. doi:10.3897/zse.99.110610. ISSN 1860-0743.
- ^ "AnimalBase :: Helix albescens species homepage". www.animalbase.uni-goettingen.de. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
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