Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Spiralia
Cladus: Lophotrochozoa
Phylum: Mollusca
Classis: Gastropoda
Subclassis: Heterobranchia
Infraclassis: Euthyneura
Cohors: Tectipleura
Subcohors: Panpulmonata
SuperOrdo: Eupulmonata
Ordo: Stylommatophora
SubOrdo: Helicina
InfraOrdo: Pupilloidei
Superfamilia: Pupilloidea
Familia: Enidae
Subfamilia: Eninae
Tribus: Multidentulini
Genus: Euchondrus
Species: E. chondriformis – E. desertorum – E. limbodentatus – E. nucifragus – E. parreyssi – E. paucidentatus – E. saulcyi – E. septemdentata
Name
Euchondrus Boettger, 1883
Type Species: Euchondrus chondriformis Mousson, 1861
References
Böttger O., 1883: [Malakozoologische Mittheilungen.] II. Binnenconchylien aus Syrien. Bericht über die Thätigkeit des Offenbacher Vereins für Naturkunde, 22/23: 162–176, Taf. 1.
Euchondrus is a genus of very small air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Enidae.
Distribution
The snails in this genus are of levantine distribution, which includes Cyprus, Turkey, Syria, Israel and Jordan.
Shell description
The gastropod shell of Euchondrus is 6.5–13 mm in height in Euchondrus parreyssi, that has very variable size in Euchondrus.[2] The shell is elongate with 5-7 whorls[2] and a high spire. The aperture is toothed.
Ecology
This snail species lives in open habitats, under limestone rocks in the desert.
Three species of Euchondrus in the Negev desert are noted for eating lichens growing under the surface limestone rocks and slabs (endolithic lichens).[3] They disrupt and eat the limestone.[3] Their grazing resulting in the weathering of the stones, and the subsequent formation of soil.[3] They have a significant effect on the region: the total population of snails is estimated to process between 0.7 and 1.1 metric ton per hectare per year of limestone in the Negev desert.[3]
Species
Species within the genus Euchondrus include:
Euchondrus albulus (Mousson, 1861)
Euchondrus borealis (Mousson, 1874)[4]
Euchondrus chondriformis (Mousson, 1861) - type species[4]
Euchondrus desertorum Rochanab, 1981
Euchondrus ledereri (L. Pfeiffer, 1868)[4]
Euchondrus limbodentatus (Mousson, 1854)[4]
Euchondrus nucifragus (L. Pfeiffer, 1848)[4]
Euchondrus parreyssi (L. Pfeiffer, 1846)[4]
Euchondrus ramonensis
Euchondrus saulcyi (Bourguignat, 1852)
Euchondrus septemdentatus (Roth, 1839)
References
Böttger O. (1883). "[Malakozoologische Mittheilungen.] II. Binnenconchylien aus Syrien". Bericht über die Thätigkeit des Offenbacher Vereins für Naturkunde 22/23: 162-176, Taf. 1.
"Species summary for Euchondrus parreyssi". AnimalBase, last modified 24 February 2009, accessed 7 September 2010.
Odling-Smee F. J., Laland K. N. & Feldman M. W. (2003). "Niche Construction: The Neglected Process in Evolution (MPB-37)". Princeton University Press. 468 pp. HTM Archived 2006-06-17 at the Wayback Machine, PDF. Chapter 1. page 7-8.
"Species in genus Euchondrus" [n=6]. AnimalBase, accessed 6 September 2010.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/"
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
