Helicinidae is a family of small tropical land snails which have an operculum. They are terrestrial operculate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Helicinoidea.

Helicinidae
A live individual of Helicina rhodostoma
A live individual of Alcadia conuloides
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Neritimorpha
Order: Cycloneritida
Superfamily: Helicinoidea
Family: Helicinidae
Férussac, 1822
Genera

See text

Diversity[1]
770-1400 species (estimation)

These snails are not at all closely related to the air-breathing land snails, despite a superficial similarity of the shells. The name "Helicinidae" immediately reminds most people of "Helicidae", the most popular group of land snails including e.g. Helix pomatia, but the important two letters "ni" only from the Latin diminutive of the latter name alluding to superficial similarities of otherwise completely different things.

Distribution

edit

These snails are found in tropical and subtropical areas but they have an odd distribution: they are restricted to the Caribbean islands and some Indo-Pacific and Pacific islands, as well as the edge of the Asian and Australian continents. Some species are found in the southern United States, from Louisiana to Florida; others in Central and South America.

Taxonomy

edit

Helicinidae belongs to superfamily Helicinoidea according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).[2]

This family consists of six following subfamilies (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005):

Genera

edit

Genera within the family Helicinidae include:

Subfamily Helicininae

subfamily Ceratodiscinae

  • Ceratodiscus Simpson & Henderson, 1901 - type genus of the subfamily Ceratodiscinae[2]

Subfamily † Dimorphoptychiinae

Subfamily Hendersoniinae

Subfamily Stoastomatinae

  • Stoastoma C. B. Adams, 1849 - type genus of the subfamily Stoastomatinae[2]

Subfamily Vianinae

Subfamily ?

References

edit
  1. ^ Richling I. (2014). "Poorly explored jewels of the tropics: Estimating diversity in non-pulmonate land snails of the family Helicinidae (Gastropoda: Neritopsina)". American Malacological Bulletin 32(2): 246-258. doi:10.4003/006.032.0216.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Bouchet, Philippe; Rocroi, Jean-Pierre; Frýda, Jiri; Hausdorf, Bernard; Ponder, Winston; Valdés, Ángel & Warén, Anders (2005). "Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families". Malacologia. 47 (1–2). Hackenheim, Germany: ConchBooks: 1–397. ISBN 3-925919-72-4. ISSN 0076-2997.
  3. ^ Wenz W. (1938). "Teil 1: Allgememeiner Teil und Prosobranchia". In: Schindewolf O. H. (ed.) Handbuch der Paläozoologie, Band 6, Gastropoda, Borntraeger, Berlin, 6(1): 1-240. pages 53-54.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Mollusca" Archived 2011-07-18 at the Wayback Machine. Diversidad Biológica Cubana, accessed 23 March 2011.
  5. ^ a b Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B (1998): 353, 347.
  6. ^ Mollusc Specialist Group (1996). Sturanyella carolinarum. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 17 June 2011.

Further reading

edit
  • Richling I. (2001). "New species of Helicinidae from Costa Rica (Gastropoda: Neritopsina)". Schriften zur Malakozoologie 17: 1–8. Cismar.
  • Richling I. (2004). "Classification of the Helicinidae: Review of Morphological Characteristics Based on a Revision of the Costa Rican Species and Application to the Arrangement of the Central American Mainland Taxa (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Neritopsina)". Malacologica 45(2): 195–440.
  • Richling I. (2004). "Coloration in Helicinidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Neritopsina)". Malacologia 46(1): 217–224.
  • Richling I. (2005). "Biographical remarks on Dr. Antoni Józef Wagner and the collection of Helicinidae in the Museum and Institute of Zoology in Warszawa". Folia Malacologica 13(4): 197–206.
  • Richling I. & Glaubrecht M. (2008). "The types of Neotropical Helicinidae (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Neritopsina) in the Malacological Collection of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin: an annotated catalogue, with emphasis on Cuban land snails". Zoosystematics and Evolution 84(2): 265–310. doi:10.1002/zoos.200800011.
  • Richling I. (2009). "The Radiation of the Helicinidae in New Caledonia (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Neritopsina) including zoogeographical considerations". In: Grandcolas P. (ed.). "Zoologia Neocaledonica 7. Biodiversity studies in New Caledonia". Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle 198: 247–372. Paris. abstract

species specific reading:

  • Richling I., Franke S., Fernánndez V. A. & Sigaretta V., S. (2007). "New data on the micro-land snails Eutrochatella (Microviana) spinopoma Aguayo 1943 and Eutrochatella (Microviana) holguinensis Aguayo 1932 (Neritopsina: Helicinidae) in the province of Holguín, eastern Cuba". Schriften zur Malakozoologie 23: 19–24. Cismar.
edit