Brown backpack snail
| Brown backpack snail | ||||||||||||
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Brown backpack snail ( Testacella maugei ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Testacella maugei | ||||||||||||
| Férussac , 1819 |
The brown backpack snail ( Testacella maugei ) is a predatory snail from the family and genus of the backpack snail ( Testacella and Testacellidae) from the subordination of the land snail (Stylommatophora). Due to its rudimentary shell, it is counted among the "half-slugs".
features
The housing is very small and sits as a rudiment on the tip of the tail of the animal. In the first juvenile stages , the animal can still withdraw into the housing. Then the growth of the shell lags behind the growth of the soft body and the adult animal becomes a “half-slug” that can no longer retreat into the shell. The housing is elongated and almost parallel-sided. It measures 12 to 16 mm in length and 6 to 7 mm in width. It has a yellowish-brownish color and shows clear streaking. The soft body is brown, speckled with black on the top and has a wrinkle. In the adult stage it is stretched out about 6 to 10 cm long and about 1 cm thick. The sole of the foot and the edge of the foot are a little lighter, often slightly pink or slightly orange in color. About 5 mm from the mantle, i.e. H. near the rear end, a furrow (side furrow) begins on both sides.
Way of life, occurrence and distribution
The species is preferred in cultivated land, e.g. B. Gardens and parks. Like the other species of backpack snails, it feeds on earthworms in a predatory manner . The snail is nocturnal and hides in earth tubes and under stones during the day. The distribution area extends from northern Morocco over the western Iberian Peninsula, western France (Brittany), the Channel Islands to the south of the British Isles. It is also found in Madeira and the Azores .
literature
- Rosina Fechter and Gerhard Falkner: molluscs. 287 pp., Mosaik-Verlag, Munich 1990 (Steinbach's Nature Guide 10) ISBN 3-570-03414-3
- Michael P. Kerney, RAD Cameron & Jürgen H. Jungbluth: The land snails of Northern and Central Europe. 384 pp., Paul Parey, Hamburg & Berlin 1983, ISBN 3-490-17918-8