''Cepaea'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of medium-sized air-breathing land snails,

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...

pulmonate gastropod

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is es ...

s in the family

Helicidae Helicidae is a large, diverse family of small to large, air-breathing land snails, sometimes called the "typical snails." A number of species in this family are valued as food items, including ''Cornu aspersum'' (formerly ''Helix aspersa'') the ...

. The shells of species within this genus are often brightly colored and patterned with stripes. The two species from this genus, the common and widespread ''C. nemoralis'' and ''C. hortensis'', have been model species for early studies of genetics and natural selection. They occur in Europe, although introduced populations occur elsewhere in the world. Like many Helicidae, this genus of snails create and use

love dart A love dart (also known as a gypsobelum, shooting darts, or just as darts) is a sharp, calcareous or chitinous dart which some hermaphroditic land snails and slugs create. Love darts are both formed and stored internally in a dart sac. The ...

Species

For a long time, four species were classified in the genus ''Cepaea''. Cepaea hortensis and Cepaea vindobonensis

However, molecular phylogenetic studies suggested that the latter two should be placed in the unrelated genera ''Macularia'' and ''Caucasotachea'': * '' Cepaea hortensis'' (O. F. Müller, 1774) – white-lipped snail or garden banded snail * '' Cepaea nemoralis'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – brown-lipped snail or grove snail * ''

Cepaea sylvatica '' Macularia sylvatica'' is a medium-sized species of air-breathing dextral land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Helicidae. It was once seen as a close relative of the grove snail The grove snail, brown-lipped s ...

'' (Draparnaud, 1801), now ''Macularia sylvatica'' * ''

Cepaea vindobonensis ''Caucasotachea vindobonensis'' is a species of medium-sized air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod in the family Helicidae. The scientific name is derived from the Celtic settlement Vindobona, now known as Vienna, the ...

'' (Férussac, 1821), now ''Caucasotachea vindobonensis''

Species

References

Further reading