Whorl snail
| Whorl snail | ||||||||||||
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Whorl snail ( Aegopis verticillus ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Aegopis verticillus | ||||||||||||
| ( Lamarck , 1822) |
The whorl snail ( Aegopis verticillus ) is by far the largest of the giant gloss snails (Zonitidae) native to Central Europe . The whorl snail is also known as the giant gloss snail, but this leads to confusion with the French giant snail ( Zonites algirus ).
features
The housing of Aegopis verticillus is rounded, conical in shape. The navel is open and cylindrical. Young animals are keeled, so that they are fossilized occasionally compared to young animals of the stone picker ( Helicigona lapicida ). The surface of the housing is very different, the structure of which is gridded, but not grained. While the shell has a horn-colored brown base color, light zones across the spiral mark the interruptions in growth in the life of the snail, such as winter rest periods and summer dry rest. The case reaches a width of 26 to 30 mm and has about 6 whorls.
habitat
Aegopis verticillus lives under leaves and between stones on moist soil and at seepage. In mountain forests in lower elevations, the snail can sometimes be found on forest paths. When it is dry, it is usually buried in the dry earth. The whorl snail feeds on dead plant material, carrion and smaller shell snails.
Reproduction
Whorl snails deposit one or two clutches of 20 to 50 soft, spherical eggs in damp soil under fallen leaves or dead wood in late summer. The young that hatch after three to four weeks usually become sexually mature at the end of the following year, but continue to grow after that.
distribution
The species is widespread from the northwestern Balkan Peninsula over the Eastern Alps to the Salzburg and Carnic Alps , it is scattered as far as the Moravian stepland . In Vienna Woods enters Aegopis verticillus on as one of the characteristic species, indigenous reserves in Germany are limited, however, to Marktschellenberg , the Salzachtal and the southern Bavarian Forest .
natural reserve
According to the nature conservation ordinance of the State of Vienna , the whorl snail ( Aegopis verticillus ) is under strict protection, so it may not be collected.
literature
- Rosina Fechter, Gerhard Falkner: Mollusks. Mosaik-Verlag, Munich 1990 (Steinbach's Nature Guide 10), 287 pages ISBN 3-570-03414-3
- Jürgen H. Jungbluth, Dietrich von Knore: Common names of land and freshwater mollusks in Germany (Gastropoda et Bivalvia). Mollusca, 26 (1): 105-156, Dresden 2008 ISSN 1864-5127 PDF
- MP Kerney, RAD Cameron, JH Jungbluth: The land snails of Northern and Central Europe . Parey-Verlag, Hamburg and Berlin 1983, 384 pp. ISBN 3-490-17918-8
- Vàclav Pfleger: European snails and mussels . Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1984, 192 pp. ISBN 3-440-05261-3
- D. Geyer: Our land and freshwater mollusks . G. Lutz 'Verlag, Stuttgart 1927 (3rd edition), 262 pp.
Web links
- Aegopis verticillus on Molluscs of Central Europe
- Aegopis verticillus on biolib.cz
- The whorl snail ( Aegopis verticillus ) on weichtiere.at .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jungluth and von Knorre, p. 123
- ↑ Vienna Nature Conservation Ordinance Annex. 1, version dated May 1, 2018.