Clausilia dubia

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Clausilia dubia
Conservation status
NE
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Mollusca Class: Gastropoda Order: Pulmonata Family: Clausiliidae Genus: Clausilia Species: C. dubia
Binomial name
Clausilia dubia Draparnaud, 1805

Clausilia dubia is a species of small, very elongate, left-handed air-breathing land snail, a sinistral terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Clausiliidae, the door snails.

Contents 1 Description 1.1 The clausilium 2 Distribution 3 References

[edit] Description

All the species of snails in the family of door snails are left-handed, which is interesting because it is an uncommon feature in gastropods in general.

These snails have shells which are extremely high-spired, with numerous whorls.

Clausilia dubia is a relatively large species for this family, reaching 16 mm in height.

[edit] The clausilium

Clausiliids are also very unusual among pulmonate gastropods in that they all have a "door" or clausilium. The clausilium is not the same thing as an operculum, which does not exist at all in pulmonate gastropods. Nonetheless 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. One end of the clausilium slides in the grooves that are formed by the folds on the inside of the shell.

[edit] Distribution

This species occurs in Europe. It lives in:

• The north of England, British Isles
• ...

• Not listen in IUCN Red List - not evaluated (NE) ^[1]

• The Czech Republic
• Slovakia
• ...

[edit] References