''Eobania vermiculata'' also known as ''Helix vermiculata'',
common name
In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...
the "chocolate-band snail" is a
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of large, air-breathing,
land snail
A land snail is any of the numerous species of snail that live on land, as opposed to the sea snails and freshwater snails. ''Land snail'' is the common name for terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have gastropod shell, shel ...
, a
terrestrial pulmonate
Pulmonata or pulmonates is an informal group (previously an order, and before that, a subclass) of snails and slugs characterized by the ability to breathe air, by virtue of having a pallial lung instead of a gill, or gills. The group inclu ...
gastropod
Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda ().
This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...
mollusk
Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...
in the family
Helicidae
Helicidae is a large, diverse family of western Palaearctic, medium to large-sized, air-breathing land snails, sometimes called the "typical snails." It includes some of the largest European land snails, several species are common in anthropoge ...
, the true snails or typical snails.
''Eobania vermiculata'' is the type species of the genus ''Eobania''.
Distribution
This species of large land snail is common in the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
area; its distribution ranges from eastern Spain to
Crimea
Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...
:
*
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
*
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
[Commonwealth of Australia. (April 2002)]
"Citrus Imports from the Arab Republic of Egypt. A Review Under Existing Import Conditions for Citrus from Israel"
. Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Australia. Caption: Gastropods, page 12 and Appendix 2.
* eastern
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
* eastern
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
* southern
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
*
Crimea
Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...
in
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
The nonindigenous distribution of ''Eobania vermiculata'' includes:
* This species has been introduced to southeastern Australia, where it is known as the chocolate-band snail.
* One individual of this snail species was found living on a wall in
Lewisham
Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...
,
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, England, in 2006. It remains to be seen if a colony will establish itself or not.
* ''E. vermiculata'' has non-indigenous populations in Belgium, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, the US, Australia, Japan, South Africa, Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia,
Jordan
Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
, and Iran.
[Ronsmans J. & Van den Neucker T. (2016). A persistent population of the chocolate-band snail ''Eobania vermiculata'' (Gastropoda: Helicidae) in Belgium. Belgian Journal of Zoology 146(1):66–68.]
This species is already established in the US, and is considered to represent a potentially serious threat as a
pest, an
invasive species
An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...
which could negatively affect agriculture, natural ecosystems, human health or commerce. Therefore, it has been suggested that this species be given top national
quarantine
A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals, and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have bee ...
significance in the USA.
''E. vermiculata'' is able to survive winters in the North-West European temperate zone, including Belgium and The Netherlands.
Description
In this species the color of the
shell
Shell may refer to:
Architecture and design
* Shell (structure), a thin structure
** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses
Science Biology
* Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...
is very variable. The background color can be whitish to greenish yellow, and the shell often has darker coloured bands or spots.
The ventral side of the shell frequently has two brown bands, and is whitish between the lowest band and the
umbilicus.
The shell has 4-4.5
whorls.
The
last whorl descends abruptly below the periphery of the shell.
The apertural margin is white, and is reflected (turned back)in adult shells, in juveniles this is true only on the columellar side.
The umbilicus is narrow and open in juveniles, only partly covered by the reflected columellar margin,; the umbilicus is however completely closed in adult shells.
The width of the shell is 22–32 mm; the height of the shell is 14–24 mm.
In northern Greece, the variability within the populations of this species seems to be lower than in southern Greece (Gávdos island: 24.5-33.5 m in diameter of adult shells, average 28–29 m, with no local variations in shell size).
Juveniles somewhat resemble the species ''
Theba pisana
''Theba pisana'', common names the white garden snail, sand hill snail, white Italian snail, Mediterranean coastal snail, and simply just the Mediterranean snail, is an edible species of medium-sized, air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulm ...
'' (which also has a similar umbilicus); however ''Eobania vermiculata'' can be differentiated from that species by its much larger
apex.
Ecology
''Eobania vermiculata'' live in a broad variety of habitats, usually in dry vegetation, mainly in coastal vicinity, also in agricultural crops.
It is very common in Crete, the species lives on practically every small island in the south Aegean.

In northern Greece copulation takes place after the first rainfalls in autumn.
These snails create and use
love dart
A love dart (also known as a gypsobelum, shooting darts, or just as darts) is a sharp, calcium carbonate, calcareous or chitinous Dart (missile), dart which some hermaphroditic land snails and slugs create. Love darts are both formed and stor ...
s as part of their mating behavior. Around 70 eggs per snail are laid 20 days later.
The size of the egg is 4.1 × 3 mm.
[Heller J. (2001). ''Life History Strategies''. In: Barker G. M. (ed.) ]
The biology of terrestrial molluscs
'. CABI Publishing, Oxon, UK, 2001, . 1-146, cited page: 428. Juveniles hatch shortly after and grow about 12–13 mm in diameter per year for 2 years (growth is usually restricted to February to June in northern Greece, in Crete this period ends already in May).
Maturity is reached after 2 years when the diameter reaches 25 mm, the umbilicus becomes closed and the apertural margin becomes reflected.
Snails reach 29–30 mm diameter in May/June of the second year in northern Greece (in April in Crete), reaching a maximum diameter (33 mm) may take 5 years or more, but mortality increases greatly after 2 years.
About 20% of the snails in a population survive to lay eggs in the 3rd year, 5% of the snails lay eggs again in the 4th year.
The mortality rates decrease with age.
The animals
hibernate (in northern Greece) or
aestivate (in Crete), but juveniles and adults show differences in their behaviour.
Adults dig into the soil and build an
epiphragm, while juveniles search protected places under stones or leaves of low plants.
Human use
The species is used for food. It is commercialized and exported from Greece to France, which led Lazaridou-Dimitriadou & Kattoulas (1981)
[Lazaridou-Dimitriadou M. & Kattoulas M. (1981). "Contribution a l'étude de la biologie et de la croissance des escargots commercialisés en Grèce: ''Eobania vermiculata'' (Müller) et ''Helix aspersa'' Müller". ''Haliotis'' 11: 129-137.] to propose restrictions on the size and seasons of collection for this species.
References
This article incorporates public domain text from the reference.
["Species summary for ''Eobania vermiculata''"](_blank)
AnimalBase
AnimalBase is a project brought to life in 2004 and is maintained by the University of Göttingen, Germany. The goal of the AnimalBase project is to digitize early zoological literature, provide copyright-free open access to zoological works, and p ...
. Last modified 31 August 2010, accessed 13 October 2010.
External links
* Ronsmans J. & Van den Neucker T. (2016). A persistent population of the chocolate-band snail ''Eobania vermiculata'' (Gastropoda: Helicidae) in Belgium. Belgian Journal of Zoology 146(1):66–68
PDF
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eobania Vermiculata
Helicidae
Gastropods described in 1774
Taxa named by Otto Friedrich Müller
Molluscs of Egypt