With over 1700 recognized recent and fossil species,[2] this is among the most diverse families of terrestrial gastropods (cf.
Orthalicidae), although the marine gastropod family
Pyramidellidae is larger.
Most species of Clausiliidae have an anatomical structure known as a
clausilium, which enables the snail to close off the
aperture of the
shell with a sliding "door".
Shell description
Almost all the species of snails in the family of door snails are left-handed, which is an uncommon feature in
gastropod shells in general.
These snails have shells which are extremely high-
spired, with numerous
whorls.
The shells tend to be club-shaped, tapering at both ends to a rounded nub. The
aperture usually has visible folds.
Clausiliids are also very unusual among pulmonate gastropods in that most of them have a "door" or
clausilium. The clausilium is not the same thing as an
operculum, which does not exist at all in pulmonate gastropods.
The clausilium is a calcareous structure, tongue-shaped or spoon-shaped, which can close the aperture of the snail shell to protect the soft parts against predation by animals such as carnivorous beetle larvae. The narrow end of the clausilium slides in the grooves that are formed by the folds on the inside of the shell.
Anatomy
In this family, the number of
haploidchromosomes lies between 21 and 30 (according to the values in this table).[3]
Cochlodina A. Férussac, 1821 - with four subgenera: Cochlodina; Cochlodinastra H. Nordsieck, 1977; Paracochlodina H. Nordsieck, 1969; Procochlodina H. Nordsieck, 1969
Megalophaedusa O. Boettger, 1877 - with four subgenera: Megalophaedusa; Mesophaedusa Ehrmann, 1929; Mesozaptyx Kuroda, 1963 and Mundiphaedusa Minato, 1979. (Neophaedusa is a synonym of Megalophaedusa).[14]
Oospira Blanford, 1872[15] - with subgenera Formosanella H. Nordsieck, 2003; Oospira; Paraformosella H. Nordsieck, 2003 and Siphonophaedusa Lindholm, 1924
^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,
ISBN0-85199-318-4. 1-146, cited pages: 139 and 142.
^Gittenberger E. & Uit de Weerd D. R. (2009). "Summarizing data on the Inchoatia taxa, including Inchoatia megdova bruggeni subspec. nov. (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Clausiliidae)" Zoologische Mededelingen83http://www.zoologischemededelingen.nl/83/nr03/a08Archived 16 January 2014 at the
Wayback Machine
Nordsieck H. (2007). Worldwide Door Snails. ConchBooks, 213 pp.
ISBN978-3-939767-07-7.
Uit de Weerd D. R. (2004). "Molecular phylogenetic history of eastern Mediterranean Alopiinae, a group of morphologically indeterminate land snails". Doctoral thesis, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science,
Leiden University.
HTM,
PDF.
Páll-Gergely B. & Szekeres M. , 2017. New and little-known Clausiliidae (Gastropoda: Pulmonata) from Laos and southern Vietnam. Journal of Conchology 42(6): 507-519
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Clausiliidae.
With over 1700 recognized recent and fossil species,[2] this is among the most diverse families of terrestrial gastropods (cf.
Orthalicidae), although the marine gastropod family
Pyramidellidae is larger.
Most species of Clausiliidae have an anatomical structure known as a
clausilium, which enables the snail to close off the
aperture of the
shell with a sliding "door".
Shell description
Almost all the species of snails in the family of door snails are left-handed, which is an uncommon feature in
gastropod shells in general.
These snails have shells which are extremely high-
spired, with numerous
whorls.
The shells tend to be club-shaped, tapering at both ends to a rounded nub. The
aperture usually has visible folds.
Clausiliids are also very unusual among pulmonate gastropods in that most of them have a "door" or
clausilium. The clausilium is not the same thing as an
operculum, which does not exist at all in pulmonate gastropods.
The clausilium is a calcareous structure, tongue-shaped or spoon-shaped, which can close the aperture of the snail shell to protect the soft parts against predation by animals such as carnivorous beetle larvae. The narrow end of the clausilium slides in the grooves that are formed by the folds on the inside of the shell.
Anatomy
In this family, the number of
haploidchromosomes lies between 21 and 30 (according to the values in this table).[3]
Cochlodina A. Férussac, 1821 - with four subgenera: Cochlodina; Cochlodinastra H. Nordsieck, 1977; Paracochlodina H. Nordsieck, 1969; Procochlodina H. Nordsieck, 1969
Megalophaedusa O. Boettger, 1877 - with four subgenera: Megalophaedusa; Mesophaedusa Ehrmann, 1929; Mesozaptyx Kuroda, 1963 and Mundiphaedusa Minato, 1979. (Neophaedusa is a synonym of Megalophaedusa).[14]
Oospira Blanford, 1872[15] - with subgenera Formosanella H. Nordsieck, 2003; Oospira; Paraformosella H. Nordsieck, 2003 and Siphonophaedusa Lindholm, 1924
^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,
ISBN0-85199-318-4. 1-146, cited pages: 139 and 142.
^Gittenberger E. & Uit de Weerd D. R. (2009). "Summarizing data on the Inchoatia taxa, including Inchoatia megdova bruggeni subspec. nov. (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Clausiliidae)" Zoologische Mededelingen83http://www.zoologischemededelingen.nl/83/nr03/a08Archived 16 January 2014 at the
Wayback Machine
Nordsieck H. (2007). Worldwide Door Snails. ConchBooks, 213 pp.
ISBN978-3-939767-07-7.
Uit de Weerd D. R. (2004). "Molecular phylogenetic history of eastern Mediterranean Alopiinae, a group of morphologically indeterminate land snails". Doctoral thesis, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science,
Leiden University.
HTM,
PDF.
Páll-Gergely B. & Szekeres M. , 2017. New and little-known Clausiliidae (Gastropoda: Pulmonata) from Laos and southern Vietnam. Journal of Conchology 42(6): 507-519
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Clausiliidae.