Helix ceratina
Species of gastropod / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Helix ceratina, the Corsican snail,[1] is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Helicidae, the typical snails.[3]
Helix ceratina | |
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Shell of Helix ceratina (specimen at MNHN, Paris) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
Subclass: | Heterobranchia |
Order: | Stylommatophora |
Superfamily: | Helicoidea |
Family: | Helicidae |
Subfamily: | Helicinae |
Tribe: | Helicini |
Genus: | Helix |
Species: | H. ceratina |
Binomial name | |
Helix ceratina Shuttleworth, 1843)[2] | |
Synonyms | |
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This species is endemic to Corsica. The only known extant population lives at Campo dell’Oro near the Ajaccio airport. The inhabited area was estimated at 0.34 km².[4]
Although still sometimes classified in a monotypic genus Tyrrhenaria,[4] the species is a member of the genus Helix, related to species such as Helix ligata and Helix melanostoma.[5][6]
It inhabits biotopes on granitic sands near the shore, and its presence is tightly linked to Genista salzmannii ssp. salzmannii.[7] During dry and hot periods, the snails dig up to 60 cm into the soil and form a convex, calcareous epiphragm.[7]
Helix ceratina feeds on fresh leaves in the spring, but the diet changes to decaying plant matter in the autumn. Genista salzmannii is the most important part of the diet (found in 80% of faeces); Matthiola sinuata, Jasione montana and grasses are also eaten.[8]