Helix pomatia

Helix pomatia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Heterobranchia

clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Eupulmonata
clade Stylommatophora
informal group Sigmurethra

Superfamily: Helicoidea
Family: Helicidae
Subfamily: Helicinae
Tribe: Helicini
Genus: Helix
Species: H. pomatia
Binomial name
Helix pomatia
Linnaeus, 1758[2]

Helix pomatia, common names the Burgundy snail, Roman snail, edible snail or escargot, is a species of large, edible, air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Helicidae. It is a European species. In the English language it is called by the French name escargot when used in cooking (escargot literally means 'snail'). Although this species is highly prized as a food it is difficult to cultivate and rarely farmed commercially.[3]

Distribution

Distribution map of Helix pomatia showing the European countries where the species is present
Cooked snails are called escargots

Distribution of Helix pomatia includes:

Southeastern and central Europe:[4]

Western Europe:

Northern Europe:

Eastern Europe:

southern Europe:

Description

View of a shell of Helix pomatia
Helix pomatia (the larger snail) laying eggs)

The shell is creamy white to light brownish, often with indistinct brown colour bands.[4] The shell has five to six whorls.[4] The aperture is large.[4] The apertural margin is white and slightly reflected in adult snails.[4] The umbilicus is narrow and partly covered by the reflected columellar margin.[4]

The width of the shell is 30–50 mm.[4] The height of the shell is 30–45 mm.[4]

Ecology

Habitat

In southeastern Europe, H. pomatia lives in forests and open habitats, gardens, vineyards, especially along rivers, confined to calcareous substrate.[4] In central Europe, it occurs in open forests and shrubland on calcareous substrate.[4] It prefers high humidity and lower temperatures, and needs loose soil for burrowing to hibernate and lay its eggs.[4] It lives up to 2100 m above sea level in the Alps, but usually below 2000 m.[4] In the south of England, it is restricted to undisturbed grassy or bushy wastelands, usually not in gardens; it has a low reproduction rate and low powers of dispersal.[4]

Life cycle

Average distance of migration reaches 3.5–6.0 m.[4]

This snail is hermaphroditic. Reproduction in central Europe begins at the end of May.[4]

Eggs are laid in June and July, in clutches of 40–65 eggs.[4] The size of the egg is 5.5–6.5 mm[4] or 8.6 × 7.2 mm.[10] Juveniles hatch after three to four weeks, and may consume their siblings under unfavourable climate conditions.[4] Maturity is reached after two to five years.[4] The life span is up to 20 years.[4] Ten-year-old individuals are probably not uncommon in natural populations.[4] The maximum lifespan is 35 years.[4]

During estivation or hibernation, this species creates a calcareous epiphragm to seal the opening of the shell.

Conservation

This species is listed in IUCN Red List, and in European Red List of Non-marine Molluscs as Least Concern.[11][12] Helix pomatia is threatened by continuous habitat destructions and drainage, usually less threatened by commercial collections.[4] Many unsuccessful attempts have been made to establish the species in various parts of England, Scotland and Ireland; it only survived in natural habitats in southern England, and is threatened by intensive farming and habitat destruction.[4] It is of lower concern in Switzerland and Austria, but many regions restrict commercial collecting.[4]

References

This article incorporates public domain text from the reference.[4]

  1. ↑ IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
  2. ↑ Linnaeus C. (1758). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. pp. [1–4], 1–824. Holmiae. (Salvius).
  3. ↑ "Snail Cultivation (Heliciculture)". The Living World of Molluscs. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 "Species summary for Helix pomatia". AnimalBase, last modified 5 March 2009, accessed 6 September 2010.
  5. ↑ (Czech) Dušek J., Hošek M. & Kolářová J. (2007). "Hodnotící zpráva o stavu z hlediska ochrany evropsky významných druhů a typů přírodních stanovišť v České republice za rok 2004–2006". Ochrana přírody 62(5): appendix 5:I-IV.
  6. ↑ "Protection for wild animals on Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981".
  7. ↑ "Helix pomatia". Stichting Anemoon, accessed 6 September 2010.
  8. ↑ " Vinbjergsnegl.".Danish Ministry of the Environment, Nature Agency , Retrieved June 2015.
  9. ↑ Balashov I. & Gural-Sverlova N. 2012. An annotated checklist of the terrestrial molluscs of Ukraine. Journal of Conchology. 41 (1): 91-109.
  10. ↑ 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 page: 428.
  11. ↑ Neubert, E. "Helix pomatia". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver. 2011.2). IUCNRedList.org. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  12. ↑ Cuttelod, A.; Seddon, M.; Neubert, E. "European Red List of Non-marine Molluscs" (PDF). European Commission.

Further reading

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