Spanish snail

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Spanish snail
Otala punctata

Otala punctata

Systematics
Subordination : Land snails (Stylommatophora)
Superfamily : Helicoidea
Family : Schnirkelschnecken (Helicidae)
Subfamily : Helicinae
Genre : Otala
Type : Spanish snail
Scientific name
Otala punctata
( OV Müller , 1774)
End turn sloping from the turn axis, mouth with a slightly outwardly curved, whitish lip
View from above of the coils, clearly visible extended mouth seam
View of the underside with a closed navel, dark brown mouth and light lip

The Spanish field snail ( Otala punctata ) is a terrestrial snail species from the family of snails ( Helicidae ). The species has been moved almost worldwide through human activity.

features

The housing is flat-conical to flattened conical. It measures 16–23 × 33–40 mm (20–24 × 33–39 mm). Four to five turns are formed which only increase slowly and regularly. The Protoconch already accounts for 1 ¼ turns of this. The seam is only moderately deep. The last turn drops sharply from the spiral plane. The turns are only moderately convex on the outside. The mouth is very oblique to the winding axis and also drops sharply from the winding plane. The edge of the mouth is bent outwards and greatly broadened. The inner mouth is dark brown or dark reddish brown in color and shiny. The color becomes paler towards the lip, the edge of the mouth itself is white or pale brown. The lower edge (spindle lip) is thickened like a tooth. The umbilicus is closed and covered by the edge of the mouth.

The shell is firm and whitish to gray-brown, the outside is very variable in color, but mostly brown, gray-brown or light brown in color. The coils carry two to five indistinct darker ribbons. The bands and the background have numerous randomly distributed white spots, which are interrupted by white spots. However, the drawing is very variable. Fine lines of growth intersect with fine spiral lines. The surface is shiny.

The body of the animal is light brown to gray-brown. In the genital apparatus, the spermatic duct opens into the penis with epiphallus; a long flagellum is formed at the confluence. The penis is long, about as long as the epiphallus. The penile retractor muscle attaches to the epiphallus about a third of the length of the penis epiphallus after the spermatic duct converges. The free fallopian tube is longer than the vagina. The sperm library is small and rounded with a long, thin stem. After about a third of the length of the stem, a thin diverticulum branches off, which is about as long as the stem of the spermathek or a little longer. Two tufts of mucous glands attach to the vagina. The arrow sack sits a little below. The atrium is very short.

Similar species

Otala punctata is easy to confuse with the black-mouthed field snail ( Otala lactea ). In Otala punctata , the mouth is less intensely brown in color, the lip is usually white. The tooth-like thickening of the spindle margin is absent in Otala punctata . Another difference was found in the genital apparatus. The black-mouthed field snail has a longer flagellum than the Spanish field snail, in relation to the penis-epiphallus complex and also a longer free fallopian tube.

The mouth of the diverticulum snail ( Eobania vermiculata ) is white and the last turn is more enlarged. Otala punctata is also significantly larger.

Distribution area of ​​the Spanish field snail in Europe

Geographical distribution and habitat

The distribution area of Otala punctata extends from the Département Ariège and the Roussillon region (north to Leucate , Dépt. Aude ) via Catalonia to Andalusia. However, there are contradicting information on the area of ​​distribution in the literature.

There are isolated occurrences in the Balearic Islands , Corsica and northwestern Algeria , the latter occurrences possibly being due to introduction. The species is safely introduced in Sardinia (around Alghero). It is now widespread in the United States. In 2003 Otala punctata was detected in Malta , 2010 in Argentina and 2017 also in Chile.

In 2017 the discovery of a freshly dead specimen of Otala puntata was published, which was found in Mainz-Kastel (Rhineland-Palatinate). In this case the introduction could be traced by means of an olive tree bought in Spain.

The species lives in the wasteland in the herb stocks, but also in cultivated land, on and in stone walls, gardens and vineyards. It feeds on fresh plant material. It rises up to 1000 m above sea level.

Harmful effect

The Spanish field snail is considered a potential pest, at least in areas where it has been introduced. In South Africa in the 1980s, a colony traced back to imported specimens was exterminated over three years at a cost of 215,000 rand.

The Spanish field snail as a food

The Spanish field snail is collected and eaten in Spain. The occurrence in Sardinia possibly goes back to the deliberate introduction in order to be able to collect this large species for the kitchen here too.

Danger

The Spanish field snail is not considered endangered. However, populations are declining in areas where the species is intensively collected. It is possible that the stocks are being overused and management measures are necessary.

Taxonomy

The species was established by Otto Friedrich Müller in 1774 as Helix punctata . Today it is generally assigned to the genus Otala Schumacher, 1817. Synonyms are Helix calendyma Bourguignat, 1864 and Helix apalolena Bourguignat, 1867.

While Albuquerque de Matos assumed in 2014, based on extensive morphological investigations and crossbreeding experiments, that the black-mouthed field snail ( Otala lactea ) and the Spanish field snail ( Otala punctata ) are conspecific, Razkin et al. In 2015, based on molecular genetic results, I concluded that there are (after all) two species.

literature

  • Michael P. Kerney, RAD Cameron, Jürgen H. Jungbluth: The land snails of Northern and Central Europe. 384 pp., Paul Parey, Hamburg and Berlin 1983, ISBN 3-490-17918-8 , (in the following abbreviated Kerney et al., Land snails with corresponding page number)
  • Francisco W. Welter-Schultes: European non-marine molluscs, a guide for species identification = identification book for European land and freshwater mollusks. A1-A3 S., 679 S., Q1-Q78 S., Planet Poster Ed., Göttingen 2012, ISBN 3-933922-75-5 , ISBN 978-3-933922-75-5 (hereinafter abbreviated: Welter- Schultes, identification book, with corresponding page number), p. 624.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The living world of the molluscs by Robert Nordsieck
  2. ^ Theodor CH Cole: Dictionary of Invertebrates / Dictionary of Invertebrates: Latin-German-English. Springer Spektrum, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-662-52869-3 , p. 60. Preview on Google Books
  3. ↑ a b Kerney et al., Landschnecken, p. 306.
  4. ↑ Welter-Schultes, Identification Book, p. 624.
  5. ↑ a b Terrestrial Mollusc Tool
  6. ↑ a b c d José Ramón Arrebola Burgos: Caracoles terrestres (Gastropoda, stylommatophora) de Andalucía, con especial referencia a las provincias de Sevilla y Cádiz. Tesis Doctoral, Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Zoología 1995. Download here , p. 298 Otala punctata
  7. ↑ a b Otala punctata (OF Müller, 1774) on AnimalBase
  8. ↑ Houria Bouaziz-Yahiatene, 1 beat pastor, 2 Ferroudja Medjdoub-Bensaad, 1 and Eike Neubert: Revision of Massylaea Möllendorff, 1898 (gastropod, Helicidae). Zookeys, 694: 109-133, 2017 doi : 10.3897 / zookeys.694.15001 , table 1.
  9. ^ Nicholas Barbara, Patrick Joseph Schembri: Otala punctata (Müller, 1774) established in Malta. Tentacle, 18: 5-6, 2010 PDF at Research Net
  10. ↑ A Rumi, J Sánchez, NS Ferrando: Theba pisana (Müller, 1774) (Gastropoda, Helicidae) and other alien land molluscs species in Argentina. Biological Invasions, 12 (9): 2985-2990, 2010 doi: 10.1007 / s10530-010-9715-x
  11. ^ JF Araya: Current status of the non-indigenous molluscs of Chile, with the first record of Otala punctata (Müller, 1774) (Gastropoda: Helicidae) in the country and new records for Cornuaspersum (Müller, 1774) and Deroceras laeve (Müller , 1774). Journal of Natural History 49: 1731-1761, 2017.
  12. ^ Carsten Renker, Natalie Schmalz, Christian Uhink: A find of Otala punctata (OF Müller, 1774) (Gastropoda: Helicidae) in Mainz-Kastel. Mainz natural science archive, 54: 181-184, Mainz 2017.
  13. ↑ DG Herbert, WF Sirgel: The recent introduction of two potentially pestiferous alien snails into South Africa and the outcomes of different pest management practices: an eradication and a colonization: research in action. South African Journal of Science, 97 (7-8): 301-304, 2001 abstract
  14. ↑ a b Home Page The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (tm): Otala punctata
  15. ↑ Otto Friedrich Müller, Vermivm terrestrium et fluviatilium, seu animalium infusoriorum, helminthicorum, et testaceorum, non marinorum, succincta historia. Volume alterum. S. I-XXXVI (= 1-36), pp. 1-214. Havniae / Copenhagen & Lipsiae / Leipzig. Heineck & Faber, 1774 Online at www.biodiversitylibrary.org , pp. 21/22.
  16. ^ Rolanda Maria Albuquerque de Matos: Atlas dos Caracóis Terrestres e de Águas Doces e Salobras Portugal Continental. 258 pp., 2014
  17. ↑ O. Razkin, BJ Gómez-Moliner, CE Prieto, A. Martínez-Orti, JR Arrébola, B. Munoz, LJ Chueca, MJ Madeira: '' Molecular phylogeny of the Western Palaearctic Helicoidea (Gastropoda, Stylommatophora). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 83: 99-117, San Diego 2015.