Helix albescens
{{Short description|Species of snail}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = 2015-07-02-0668(0) (19341856612).jpg
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Helix
| species = albescens
| authority = Rossmässler, 1839
}}
Helix albescens is a species of large air-breathing land snail from eastern Europe belonging to the family Helicidae.
Description
Helix albescens is a relatively small Helix species with globular shell, which is whitish to cream-brown, usually with five reddish-brown bands of which especially the second and third may partly fuse. Umbilicus closed, apertural margins may be brown. Characteristic is a very large protoconch (the embryonal shell).{{Cite journal |last=Neubert |first=Eike |date=2014 |title=Revision of Helix Linnaeus, 1758 in its eastern Mediterranean distribution area, and reassignment of Helix godetiana Kobelt, 1878 to Maltzanella Hesse, 1917 (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Helicidae) |journal=Contributions to Natural History |volume=26 |pages=1–200}} The animal is yellow, usually with a dark, brown back.
On the genital system, typical characters are a missing diverticulum of bursa copulatrix (gametolytic gland) and a very short flagellum.{{Cite journal |last=Leonov |first=S. V. |date=2004 |title=Peculiarities of the reproductive system of Helix albescens (Gastrpoda, Pulmonata) |url=http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/bitstream/handle/123456789/3246/08_Leonov.pdf?sequence=1 |journal=Vestnik zoologii |volume=39 |issue=3 |pages=73-75}}
Distribution and habitat
Helix albescens is distributed in southern Ukraine, southwestern Russia (Ciscaucasia) and the Caucasus (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan).{{Cite journal |last1=Korábek |first1=Ondřej |last2=Juřičková |first2=Lucie |last3=Petrusek |first3=Adam |date=2022 |title=Diversity of Land Snail Tribe Helicini (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora: Helicidae): Where Do We Stand after 20 Years of Sequencing Mitochondrial Markers? |journal=Diversity |language=en |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=24 |doi=10.3390/d14010024 |doi-access=free |issn=1424-2818}} The distribution of mitochondrial genetic lineages suggests that the species originates from Crimea.{{Cite journal |last1=Korábek |first1=Ondřej |last2=Balashov |first2=Igor |last3=Neiber |first3=Marco T. |last4=Walther |first4=Frank |last5=Hausdorf |first5=Bernhard |date=2023-11-15 |title=The Caucasus is neither a cradle nor a museum of diversity of the land snail genus Helix (Gastropoda, Stylommatophora, Helicidae), while Crimea is home to an ancient lineage |url=https://zse.pensoft.net/article/110610/ |journal=Zoosystematics and Evolution |language=en |volume=99 |issue=2 |pages=535–543 |doi=10.3897/zse.99.110610 |doi-access=free |issn=1860-0743}}
The species naturally occurs in shruby habitats (with Christ's thorn, blackthorn, hawthorn, etc.).{{Cite journal |last=Zuev |first=G. V. |last2=Ovcharov |first2=O. P. |last3=Chesalin |first3=M. V. |date=1995 |title=Reproduction of Helix albescens Rossmässler, 1839 (Pulmonata, Helicidae) in captivity |journal=Ruthenica |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=49-54}}
Reproduction
As all stylommatophoran land snails, H. albescens is a hermaphrodite. It lays its eggs in small clutches in cavities dug 5-6 cm deep into a damp soil. Egg laying takes many hours, because laying one egg can takes as much as two hours. Recorded clutch size ranges between 6 and 25 eggs, with an average of 18 eggs. Oval eggs are large relative to the animal, with a maximum diameter of 6-11 mm.