Oxyloma elegans

Oxyloma elegans is a species of small European land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk belonging to the family Succineidae, the amber snails.

Oxyloma elegans
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Heterobranchia
Order: Stylommatophora
Family: Succineidae
Genus: Oxyloma
Species:
O. elegans
Binomial name
Oxyloma elegans
(Risso, 1826)[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Succinea elegans Risso, 1826
  • Succinea pfeifferi Rossmässler, 1835
  • Oxyloma dunkeri[3]

Description

The shell usually has fewer than 3 whorls. The body whorl is very large and the spire is short. The shell is yellowish amber coloured with irregular radial growth lines. The width of the shell is 6–8 mm. The height of the shell is 9–17 mm (up to 20 mm).[2]

Apertural view of a shell of Oxyloma elegans

Genitalia differences separate Oxyloma elegans from Oxyloma sarsii and the genus Succinea. The epiphallus is slightly curved and inside a short penis prolongation distance between penis and the pedunculus is very short.[2]

Ecology

Oxyloma elegans occurs on vegetation in moist habitats such as marshes.

Distribution

This species occurs in European countries and islands including:

References
  1. Risso A. (1826). Histoire naturelle des principales productions de l'Europe méridionale et particulièrement de celles des environs de Nice et des Alpes Maritimes. Tome quatrième. pp. [1-3], j-vij [= 1-7], 1-439, pl. [1-12]. Paris. page 59.
  2. Species summary for Oxyloma elegans. Animalbase, accessed 14 June, last modified 26 October 2013.
  3. Falkner G., Ripken T. E. J. & Falkner M. (2002). "Mollusques continetaux de France Liste de Reference annotée et Bibliographie". Patrimoines Naturels 52. Museum d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris.
  4. Juřičková L., Horsák M. & Beran L. (2001). "Check-list of the molluscs (Mollusca) of the Czech Republic". Acta Soc. Zool. Bohem. 65: 25-40.
  5. (in Czech) Horsák M., Juřičková L., Beran L., Čejka T. & Dvořák L. (2010). "Komentovaný seznam měkkýšů zjištěných ve volné přírodě České a Slovenské republiky. [Annotated list of mollusc species recorded outdoors in the Czech and Slovak Republics]". Malacologica Bohemoslovaca, Suppl. 1: 1-37. PDF.
  6. http://ecoinf.uran.ru/content/4catalog/20.shtml%5B%5D
  7. Balashov I. & Gural-Sverlova N. (2012). "An annotated checklist of the terrestrial molluscs of Ukraine". Journal of Conchology 41(1): 91-109.
  8. Georgiev D. G. (2006). "Two new species from the family Succineidae (Beck, 1837) (Gastropoda: Pulmonata) to the fauna of Bulgaria". Scientific Studies of the University of Plovdiv, Biology, Animalia 41: 7-11. PDF.

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