Cecilioides acicula
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| Cecilioides acicula | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Two fresh shells of Cecilioides acicula, the scale bar is in millimeters | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Order: | Stylommatophora |
| Family: | Ferussaciidae |
| Genus: | Cecilioides |
| Species: | C. acicula |
| Binomial name | |
| Cecilioides acicula (O. F. Müller, 1774)[3] | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Caecilianella acicula (Müller) | |
Cecilioides acicula, also known as the blind snail or blind awlsnail, is a subterranean species of very small, air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Ferussaciidae.
Description
[edit]Cecilioides acicula is white, eyeless, and has two pairs of tentacles.[4][5]
Their shell is long and narrow, with a maximum length of 5.5 mm and a maximum width of 1.2 mm.[6] Fresh shells are colorless, glassy and transparent, while less fresh shells are an opaque milky-white.
Habitat
[edit]Cecilioides acicula is a subterranean species, most commonly found in soils with a high level of calcium.[6]
Due to its subterranean habitat, this species is often found as an empty shell in places such as mole hills, ant hills, or in flood debris of rivers.
Distribution
[edit]The native range of Cecilioides acicula is Mediterranean Europe, specifically Western Europe (Great Britain and Ireland,[7] Netherlands,[8]) and Central Europe (Czech Republic,[9] Poland, Slovakia[10], Ukraine[11]).
It has also been accidentally introduced to several non-native countries:
- Latvia since 2006[12]
- Bermuda since 1861[13]
- Canada (Ontario)[14]
- The United States (Pennsylvania, Florida,[15] Maryland since 1959,[16] Virginia since 2006,[17] California, New Jersey and New Mexico.)[18]
- New Zealand[19]
- Australia[20]
References
[edit]- ↑ Kappes, H. (2017). "Cecilioides acicula (Europe assessment)". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017 e.T171389A1325438. Retrieved 12 May 2026.
- ↑ NatureServe. "Cecilioides acicula". NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 12 May 2026.
- ↑ Müller, O. F. 1774. Vermivm terrestrium et fluviatilium, seu animalium infusoriorum, helminthicorum, et testaceorum, non marinorum, succincta historia. Volumen alterum. - pp. I-XXVI [= 1-36], 1-214, [1-10]. Havniæ & Lipsiæ. (Heineck & Faber).
- ↑ Adam, W. 1960. Mollusques. Faune de Belgique, Tome 1, mollusques terrestres et dulcicoles. Bruxelles: Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique. 402 pp., 4 pl.
- ↑ Marshall, B. (2014). "Ceciliodes acicula (O. F. Müller, 1774)". World Register of Marine Species at. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
- 1 2 M.P. Kerney and R.A.D. Cameron, 1979, A Field Guide to the Land Snails of Britain and North-west Europe. Collins, London, ISBN 0-00-219676-X
- ↑ Anderson, R. (2005). "An Annotated List of the Non-Marine Mollusca of Britain and Ireland (InvertebrateIreland Online, Ulster Museum, Belfast and National Museum of Ireland, Dublin)". Retrieved 26 August 2008.
- ↑ "Anemoon > Flora en Fauna > Soorteninformatie". www.anemoon.org. Retrieved 27 August 2008.
- ↑ Juřičková L., Horsák M. & Beran L., 2001: Check-list of the molluscs (Mollusca) of the Czech Republic. Acta Soc. Zool. Bohem., 65: 25-40.
- ↑ (in Slovak) Lisický M. J. (1991). Mollusca Slovenska. [The Slovak molluscs]. VEDA vydavateľstvo Slovenskej akadémie vied, Bratislava, 344 pp.
- ↑ Balashov I. & Gural-Sverlova N. 2012. An annotated checklist of the terrestrial molluscs of Ukraine. Journal of Conchology. 41 (1): 91-109.
- ↑ Šteffek J., Stalažs A. & Dreijers E., 2008: Snail fauna of the oldest cemeteries from Riga (Latvia). – Malacologica Bohemoslovaca, 7: 79–80. Online serial at <http://mollusca.sav.sk> 29-September-2008.
- ↑ Bieler, R. & Slapcinsky, J. 2000. A case study for development of an island fauna: recent terrestrial mollusks of Bermuda. Nemouria No. 44:1-99.
- ↑ Forsyth, R.G., M.J. Oldham, & F.W. Schueler. 2008. Mollusca, Gastropoda, Ellobiidae, Carychium minimum, and Ferussaciidae, Cecilioides acicula: distribution extension and first provincial records of two introduced land snails in Ontario, Canada. Check List 4(4): 449–452.
- ↑ Pilsbry, H.A. 1946. Land Mollusca of North America (north of Mexico). Volume 2, part 1. Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia.
- ↑ Grimm, W. 1959. Land snails of Carroll County, Maryland. Nautilus 72:122-127.
- ↑ Örstan, Aydın (2007). "A new record of Cecilioides acicula from North America (Pulmonata: Ferussaciidae). Triton, March 2007, no 15, page 38".
- ↑ "Comprehensive Report Species - Cecilioides acicula". www.natureserve.org. 26 August 2008. Archived from the original on 28 September 2008. Retrieved 26 August 2008.
- ↑ Barker, G.M. 1999. Naturalised terrestrial Stylommatophora (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Fauna of New Zealand. No. 38. Manaaki Whenua Press.
- ↑ Bonham K (2005) Cecilioides acicula (Muller 1774) (Pulmonata: Ferussaciidae), a burrowing land snail introduced into Tasmania. Tasmanian Naturalist 127:42-44
- Spencer, H.G., Marshall, B.A. & Willan, R.C. (2009). Checklist of New Zealand living Mollusca. pp 196–219 in Gordon, D.P. (ed.) New Zealand inventory of biodiversity. Volume one. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Cecilioides acicula at Wikimedia Commons- Cecilioides acicula at Animalbase taxonomy, short description, distribution, biology, status (threats), images
- Cecilioides acicula Fauna Europaea
