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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.

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 several countries and islands, including:

Europe:

America:

Life habits

The size of the egg is 0.5 mm.

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

V. pulchella thrives best in habitats characterized by relatively moist and conductive soil, large soil aggregates, low temperatures at 0-10 cm depth, a well-developed litter layer, low light level, and low numbers of plants which change shape in response to humidity and/or light levels.

In North America it is commonly found in woodlands and suburban gardens.

References

  • Herbert, D. & Kilburn, D. (2004). Field guide to the land snails and slugs of eastern South Africa. Pietermaritzburg: Natal Museum. [v] + 336 pp.
  • Connolly, M. (1939). A monographic survey of South African non-marine Mollusca. Annals of the South African Museum. 33: 1–660.
  • Herbert, D.G. (2010). The introduced terrestrial Mollusca of South Africa. SANBI Biodiversity Series, 15: vi + 108 pp. Pretoria.
  • Kerney, M.P., Cameron, R.A.D. & Jungbluth, J-H. (1983). Die Landschnecken Nord- und Mitteleuropas. Ein Bestimmungsbuch für Biologen und Naturfreunde, 384 pp., 24 plates.
  • Sysoev, A. V. & Schileyko, A. A. (2009). Land snails and slugs of Russia and adjacent countries. Sofia/Moskva (Pensoft). 312 pp., 142 plates.
  • Griffiths, O.L. & Florens, V.F.B. (2006). A field guide to the non-marine molluscs of the Mascarene Islands (Mauritius, Rodrigues and Réunion) and the northern dependencies of Mauritius. Bioculture Press: Mauritius. Pp. i–xv, 1–185, pls 1-32.
  • Ramakrishna, Mitra, S, C. & Dey, A. (2010). Annotated checklist of Indian land molluscs. Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, 359 pp.
  • Cameron, R. A. D., Teixeira, D., Pokryszko, B., Silva, I. & Groh, K. (2021). An annotated checklist of the extant and Quaternary land molluscs of the Desertas Islands, Madeiran Archipelago. Journal of Conchology. 44(1): 53–70.
  • Jaeckel, S. (1956). Die Weichtiere (Mollusca) der Afghanistan-Expedition (1952-1953). Mitteilungen aus dem Zoologischen Museum in Berlin. 32(2): 337–353.

External links