Caucasotachea vindobonensis

Description

The right-hand coiled, globular shell of C. vindobonensis is 17–21 mm high and 20–25 mm broad with 5.5–6 whorls. In adults, the umbilicus is completely covered. The lip is brown at its inner end becoming pale towards the suture; this distinguishes it from the conchological similar Cepaea hortensis (usually pure white lip) and Cepaea nemoralis (usually a dark brown lip), with which C. vindobonensis often co-occurs. Another difference is that the shell C. vindobonensis has fine growth ridges whereas those of Cepaea are smooth. The shell is whitish or yellowish, with typically 5 brown stripes, of which the upper two are usually weak. The lowermost stripe is nearer to the columella than in Cepaea. There is a slight variation of shell colour within this species (see below). The animal itself is yellowish with grey tentacles. |File:Cepaea_vindobonensis_01.JPG | |File:Cepaea_vindobonensis_02.JPG | |File:Cepaea_vindobonensis_03.JPG |

Distribution and habitat

It occurs in Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic (near threatened (NT)), Germany (reintroduced), Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Moldova, Poland, North Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, Russia (Rostov Oblast, Stavropol Krai, Krasnodar Krai; Moscow Region as an introduction) Serbia, Slovenia, and Ukraine.

Introduced populations in the United States (New York State) have been known since 2015 and in Canada (Quebec) since 2020.

The original habitat of C. vindobonensis was most probably open forests in the Balkans, from where it spread over large parts of Central and Eastern Europe after the last glaciation. Nevertheless, it also dwells in several grassland habitats like meadows, steppe and ruderal areas, especially in the north of its distribution area. The highest vertical occurrence is about 1600 m asl in Southern Bulgaria.

Life cycle

All the following information originates from a Greek study. Because Greece is in the southernmost part of the distribution area, the phenology for this species might be quite different in the more northerly countries where it is found. Caucasotachea vindobonensis becomes mature after its second year and can reach a maximum life span of about 7 years. The reproductive period lasts from April to June, with a maximum in May. Each year, adults lay about 50 eggs, about 3 mm in diameter, and the juveniles hatch out after 18 days. During hot summer days, these snails rest attached to leaves or the stems of tall plants. Hibernation commences at the end of October to the beginning of November, and the snails come out of hibernation in March.

References

References

1. Neubert E. (2011). [http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/156371/0 "''Cepaea vindobonensis''"]. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 26 May 2014.
2. (1828). "Naturgeschichte deutscher Land- und Süsswasser-Mollusken". Landes-Industrie-Comptoir.
3. (2015). "Molecular phylogeny reveals the polyphyly of the snail genus ''Cepaea'' (Gastropoda: Helicidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.
4. (2016). "Increasing the number of molecular markers resolves the phylogenetic relationship of "''Cepaea''" ''vindobonensis'' (Pfeiffer 1828) with ''Caucasotachea'' Boettger 1909 (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Helicidae)". Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research.
5. "Taxon details: ''Caucasotachea vindobonensis'' (c. Pfeiffer, 1828)". WoRMS.
6. (2012). "European non-marine molluscs, a guide for species identification: Bestimmungsbuch für europäische Land- und Süsswassermollusken". Planet Poster Editions.
7. (1979). "A field guide to the land snails of Britain and north-west Europe". Collins.
8. (2013). "Měkkýši České a Slovenské republiky = Molluscs of the Czech and Slovak Republics". Nakladatelství Kabourek.
9. (1991). "Mollusca Slovenska". VEDA vydavateľstvo [[Slovak Academy of Sciences.
10. (September 2017). "''Caucasotachea vindobonensis'' (Gastropoda: Helicidae)". Organisms, Diversity & Evolution.
11. "Red List of the molluscs (Mollusca) of the Czech Republic". Malacologica Bohemoslovaca.
12. (2013). "Páskovka ''Cepaea vindobonensis'' (Pulmonata: Helicidae) v západních Čechách.". [[Malacologica Bohemoslovaca]].
13. (2008). "''Cepaea vindobonensis'' (C. Pfeiffer, 1828) in Latvia.". Acta Universitatis Latviensis.
14. Egorov R. (2014). "The first record of ''Cepaea vindobonensis'' (Pfeiffer, 1828) (Stylommatophora: Helicidae) in the central part of European Russia". ''[[Malacologica Bohemoslovaca]]'' '''13''': 110-113. [http://mollusca.sav.sk/pdf/13/13.Egorov.pdf PDF].
15. (November 2021). "The introduction of the European ''Caucasotachea vindobonensis'' (Gastropoda: Helicidae) in North America, its origin and its potential range". Biological Invasions.
16. (August 2012). "An annotated checklist of the terrestrial molluscs of Ukraine.". [[Journal of Conchology]].
17. (1998). "Aspects of life cycle, population dynamics, growth and secondary production of the pulmonate snail ''Cepaea vindobonensis'' (Férussac, 1821) in northern Greece.". Journal of Molluscan Studies.