Achatinella
| Achatinella | ||||||||||||
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Achatinella sp. |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Achatinella | ||||||||||||
| Reeve , 1850 |
Achatinella is the name of a genus of snails in the family Achatinellidae , nocturnal, viviparous tree snails thatare endemic to the Hawaiian island of Oahu .
features
The cm in adult worm usually about 2 long housing are wound right or left and vary in shape and color. They are usually oblong or egg-shaped and have a smooth surface.
The snails live in trees, where they feed on the fungal growth on the leaves. Occasionally the snails are also found on neophytes , but it is unclear whether the fungi growing on these provide a sufficient basis for the snails to live on. In captivity, at least some species can be fed mushrooms that grow on the myrtle family Metrosideros polymorpha or on cornmeal agar.
The snails, like other lung snails, are hermaphrodites that mate with their penises . The young snails are born alive.
use
When Achatinella snails were still common, they were collected for their shells, which were used as jewelry for lei .
Spread and endangerment
Achatinella snails live exclusively on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Due to their low reproductive rate and slow growth, they are sensitive to disturbances. The tree snails used to be common and were mentioned in Hawaiian fairy tales and songs. Today 16 of the 40 species described are extinct and all others are endangered. They are strictly protected by the Washington Convention on Endangered Species .
The reasons given for the decline and extinction of snails are excessive foraging by snail collectors, stalking by introduced pigs and rats, clearing of forests and invasive plant species such as Clidemia hirta and Dicranopteris linearis , which prevent the regrowth of forage trees that are indispensable for snails. The introduced ant species Pheidole megacephala , the garlic gloss snail ( Oxychilus alliarius ) and the rosy wolf snail ( Euglandina rosea ) also hunt Achatinella snails.
Systematics
The genus Achatinella includes 40 recognized species, 16 of which are extinct, which are divided into three subgenera:
Subgenus Achatinella
- Achatinella apexfulva (Dixon, 1789) - extinct
- Achatinella cestus Newcomb, 1853
- Achatinella concavospira Pfeiffer, 1859
- Achatinella decora (Férussac, 1821) - extinct
- Achatinella leucorraphe (Gulick, 1873)
- Achatinella lorata Férussac, 1824
- Achatinella mustelina Mighels, 1845
- Achatinella swiftii Newcomb, 1853
- Achatinella turgida Newcomb, 1853
- Achatinella valida Pfeiffer, 1855 - extinct
- Achatinella vittata Reeve, 1850
Subgenus Bulimella
- Achatinella abbreviata Reeve, 1850 - extinct
- Achatinella bulimoides Swainson, 1828
- Achatinella byronii (Wood, 1828)
- Achatinella decipiens Newcomb, 1854
- Achatinella fuscobasis (EA Smith, 1873)
- Achatinella purple Pilsbry, 1914
- Achatinella pulcherrima Swainson, 1828
- Achatinella pupukanioe Pilsbry & Cooke, 1914
- Achatinella sowerbyana Pfeiffer, 1855
- Achatinella taeniolata Pfeiffer, 1846
- Achatinella viridans Mighels, 1845
- Achatinella elegans Newcomb, 1853 - extinct
Subgenus Achatinellastrum
- Achatinella bellula EA Smith, 1873
- Achatinella buddii Newcomb, 1853 - extinct
- Achatinella casta Newcomb, 1853 - extinct
- Achatinella caesia Gulick, 1858 - extinct
- Achatinella curta Newcomb, 1853
- Achatinella dimorpha Gulick, 1858 - extinct
- Achatinella fulgens Newcomb, 1853
- Achatinella juddii Baldwin, 1895 - extinct
- Achatinella juncea Gulick, 1856 - extinct
- Achatinella lehuiensis EA Smith, 1873 - extinct
- Achatinella livida Swainson, 1828 - extinct
- Achatinella papyracea Gulick, 1856 - extinct
- Achatinella phaeozona Gulick, 1856
- Achatinella spaldingi Pilsbry & Cooke, 1914 - extinct
- Achatinella stewartii (Green, 1827)
- Achatinella thaanumi Pilsbry & Cooke, 1914 - extinct
- Achatinella vulpina (Férussac, 1824)
literature
- SM Wells, RM Pyle & NM Collins: IUCN Invertebrate Red Data Book . International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, 1983, ISBN 2880326028
- Henry A. Pilsbry and C. Montague Cooke: Manual of Conchology. Structural and Systematic. Volume XXII. Achatinellidae . Conchological Department, Philadelphia, 1912-1914
- EW Thwing, Henry A. Pilsbry, and C. Montague Cooke: Occasional papers of Bernice P. Bishop Museum (1907-1917) . Bernice P. Bishop Museum
- US Fish and Wildlife Service (1992): Recovery Plan for the Oahu Tree Snails of the Genus Achatinella . (PDF; 16.32 MB) US Fish and Wildlife Service, Portland, Oregon, Article 64 pages, Appendix 64, 5 figures.
- Claire Régnier, Benoît Fontaine, Philippe Bouchet (2009): Not Knowing, Not Recording, Not Listing: Numerous Unnoticed Mollusk Extinctions . Conservation Biology 23 (5), pp. 1214-1221.
