Vallonia pulchella

Vallonia pulchella, common name the lovely vallonia, is a species of very small air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Valloniidae.

Apical view of the shell of Vallonia pulchella
Apertural view of the shell of Vallonia pulchella
Basal view of the shell of Vallonia pulchella

Vallonia pulchella
A live individual of Vallonia pulchella
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Eupulmonata
clade Stylommatophora
informal group Orthurethra
Superfamily:
Pupilloidea
Family:
Valloniidae
Genus:
Vallonia
Species:
V. pulchella
Binomial name
Vallonia pulchella
Synonyms
  • Helix pulchella Müller, 1774
  • Vallonia rosalia Risso, 1826

Description

For terms see gastropod shell

The shell is circular in outline, with 3.2 - 3.3 whorls. The last whorl is wider immediately before the aperture, and is not much descending. Compared to Vallonia costata, the aperture is not very oblique, and the lip is weaker than in that species. Vallonia pulchella also has slightly more elevated whorls than Vallonia costata. Like other Vallonia species, the umbilicus is very wide.

The shell is ivory-white with very fine and irregular streaks. The soft parts are milky white. The tentacles are short, and the posterior end of the foot is round.

Distribution

This species occurs in countries and islands including:

Europe:

America:

Life habits

The size of the egg is 0.5 mm.[8]

In this species some parental care was observed: apparently the eggs were cleaned of fungi.[8] Parental care is very rare in gastropods in general and has otherwise been observed only in the genus Libera.

In North America it is commonly found in woodlands and suburban gardens. It lives in moist soil and may be attracted to decaying material.

References
  1. Müller O. F. 1774. Vermivm terrestrium et fluviatilium, seu animalium infusoriorum, helminthicorum, et testaceorum, non marinorum, succincta historia. Volumen alterum. pp. I-XXVI [= 1-36], 1-214, [1-10]. Havniæ & Lipsiæ. (Heineck & Faber).
  2. (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.
  3. Balashov I. & Gural-Sverlova N. 2012. An annotated checklist of the terrestrial molluscs of Ukraine. Journal of Conchology. 41 (1): 91-109.
  4. Vallonia pulchella (O. F. Müller 1774) - Glatte Grasschnecke. Accessed 26 April 2009.
  5. Vallonia pulchella. Stichting ANEMOON, Accessed 26 April 2009.
  6. Robert G. Forsyth. Terrestrial Gastropods of the Columbia Basin, British Columbia Family Valloniidae. Accessed 25 April 2009.
  7. Coppolino M.L. 2009. Land Snails of Southern Illinois. Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, USA. Last updated 31 January 2009, accessed 25 April 2009.
  8. Heller J.: Life History Strategies. in Barker G. M. (ed.): The biology of terrestrial molluscs. CABI Publishing, Oxon, UK, 2001, ISBN 0-85199-318-4. 1-146, cited pages: 419-420 and page 426.
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