Cecilioides

Cecilioides
Two fresh shells of Cecilioides acicula The scale bar is in millimeters
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Stylommatophora
Suborder: Achatinina
Superfamily: Achatinoidea
Family: Ferussaciidae
Genus: Cecilioides
Férussac, 1814[1]
Type species
Buccinum acicula
O. F. Müller, 1774
Synonyms
  • Achatina (Macrospira) Swainson, 1840
  • Acicula Risso, 1826 (junior synonym; non Acicula W. Hartmann, 1821)
  • Aciculina Westerlund, 1887
  • Belonis W. Hartmann, 1841
  • Caecilianella Bourguignat, 1856
  • Caecilianella (Acicula) Risso, 1826
  • Caecilioides Herrmannsen, 1846 (unjustified emendation of the original name)
  • Cecilioides (Cecilioides) A. Férussac, 1814· accepted, alternate representation
  • Cecilioides (Terebrella) Maltzan, 1886 accepted, alternate representation
  • Cionella (Caecilianella) Bourguignat, 1856
  • Macrospira Swainson, 1840
  • Rhaphidiella Maltzan, 1886
  • Styloides A. Férussac, 1821

Cecilioides is a genus of very small, air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Ferussaciidae.[2]

Most of the species in this genus live some distance underground. They are usually blind. Because of their subterranean habitat and their small size, they can be difficult to find alive.

When fresh, the shells are transparent. After they have been empty some time in the soil, they usually become an opaque milky-white.

Cecilioides acicula has a very long and slim shell with a dull point at the end. While the animal is alive, the shell is thin, shiny, see-through, and doesn't have any colour. However, after the animal dies, the shell turns white and no longer lets light through. The inside spiral part of the shell stops suddenly when it reaches the edge of the bottom lip (Pilsbry 1948, Kerney and Cameron 1979).[1]

Species

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Species within this genus include:

Species brought into synonymy

References

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  1. ^ Férussac A. E. J. P. J. F. d'Audebard de (1814). Mémoires géologiques sur les terreins formés sous l'eau douce par les débris fossiles des mollusques vivant sur la terre ou dans l'eau non salée. pp. 1-76. Paris.
  2. ^ MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Cecilioides A. Férussac, 1814. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=819997 on 2020-07-30
  3. ^ a b c "Mollusca" Archived July 18, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ^ Diversidad Biológica Cubana, accessed 23 March 2011.
  5. ^ Salvador, Rodrigo Brincalepe; Simone, Luiz Ricardo Lopes de (2013). "Taxonomic revision of the fossil pulmonate mollusks of Itaboraí Basin (Paleocene), Brazil". Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia. 53 (2): 5–46. doi:10.1590/S0031-10492013000200001.
  • Bank, R. A. (2017). Classification of the Recent terrestrial Gastropoda of the World. Last update: July 16, 2017
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