Zonitidae
| Zonitidae Temporal range: Paleocene or Cretaceous – Recent[1] | |
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| A live individual of Aegopis verticillus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): | clade Heterobranchia clade Euthyneura clade Panpulmonata clade Eupulmonata clade Stylommatophora informal group Sigmurethra clade limacoid clade |
| Superfamily: | Zonitoidea Mörch, 1864 |
| Family: | Zonitidae Mörch, 1864[2] |
| Genera | |
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See text | |
Zonitidae, common name the true glass snails, are a family of mostly rather small, air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Zonitoidea.
Zonitidae is the only family in the superfamily Zonitoidea. The family's type genus is Zonites, established by Pierre Denys de Montfort in 1810. This family has no subfamilies (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).
Distribution
The distribution of the Zonitidae encompasses the western Palearctic.[3]
Shell description
The spiral, heliciform shells of these snails are flattened in shape with a very low spire. The shell is perforate or umbilicate. The lip of the aperture is simple, lacking thickened margin. These shells are more or less transparent as if made of glass, hence the popular name "glass snails". The shells are colorless or of an amber to brownish color.[4]
Anatomy
Some snails in genera within this family create and use love darts as part of their mating behavior.
In this family, the number of haploid chromosomes lies between 21 and 25 and also lies between 31 and 35, but other values are also possible (according to the values in this table).[5]
Ecology
These snails live in damp places under stones and similar objects. The true glass snails are usually nocturnal.
Genera
Genera within the family Zonitidae include:
- Aegopis Fitzinger, 1833
- Allaegopis Riedel, 1979
- Balcanodiscus Riedel & Urbanski, 1964
- Brazieria Ancey, 1887
- Doraegopis Riedel, 1982
- Meledella Sturany, 1908
- Mesomphix Rafinesque, 1819[6]
- Paraegopis Hesse, 1910
- Paravitrea Pilsbry, 1898[7]
- Retinella Fischer, 1877
- Thasiogenes Riedel, 1998
- Troglaegopis Riedel & Radja, 1983
- Turcozonites Riedel, 1987
- Ventridens Binney & Bland, 1869
- Zonites Montfort, 1810 – type genus
Cladogram
The following cladogram shows the phylogenic relationships of this family to other families in the limacoid clade:[3]
| limacoid clade |
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References
- ↑ "Family summary for Zonitidae". AnimalBase, last change 19-09-2006, accessed 4 August 2010.
- ↑ Mörch, 1864. Fortegnelse over de i Danmark forekommende Land- of Ferskvandbløddyr. Videnskabelige Meddelelser fra den Naturhistorisk Forening i Kjöbenhavn, 17–22 (fro 1863): 265–367. zonitidae on the page 274.
- 1 2 Hausdorf B. (2000). "Biogeography of the Limacoidea sensu lato (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora): Vicariance Events and Long-Distance Dispersal". Journal of Biogeography 27(2): 379–390. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2699.2000.00403.x, JSTOR.
- ↑ George Washington Tryon 1886. Manual of Conchology, volume 2, Zonitidae.
- ↑ Barker G. M.: Gastropods on Land: Phylogeny, Diversity and Adaptive Morphology. in Barker G. M. (ed.): The biology of terrestrial molluscs. CABI Publishing, Oxon, UK, 2001, ISBN 0-85199-318-4. 1–146, cited pages: 139 and 142.
- ↑ "Standard Report". ITIS. Interagency Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ↑ "Standard Report". ITIS. nteragency Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
Further reading
- Riedel A. The Zonitidae of Greece. Fauna Graeciae V. 194 pp.
- Schileyko A. A. (2003). "Treatise on recent terrestrial pulmonate mollusks. 10. Ariophantidae, Ostracolethaidae, Ryssotidae, Milacidae, Dyakiidae, Staffordiidae, Gastrodontidae, Zonitidae, Daudebardiidae, Parmacellidae". Ruthenica, Supplement 2. 1309–1466.
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