''Indrella'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

containing the single

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), ...

''Indrella ampulla'', a tropical

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth, as opposed to extraterrestrial. 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 o ...

air-breathing

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

Ariophantidae Ariophantidae is a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic family (biology), family of air-breathing land snails and semi-slugs, terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Helicarionoidea (according to the Taxonomy of ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the Western Ghats of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

.2007
''Tropical Land Snail Diversity: South and Southeast Asia''
The Natural History Museum, London. Retrieved 1 February 2009.Aravind N. A., Rajshekhar K. P. & Madhaystha N. A

. Retrieved 1 March 2009. ''I. ampulla'' is the only species in the genus ''Indrella.'' However the animal has polymorphic coloration: The visible soft parts of the snail can be various colors such as red, yellow, brown and orange.

Shell description

The shell of this species is like that of ''

Vitrina ''Vitrina'' is genus of small air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Vitrinidae, the glass snails.MolluscaBase eds. (2023). MolluscaBase. Vitrina Draparnaud, 1801. Accessed through: World Register of Mar ...

'', imperforate, with few

whorls A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). In nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral diagram ...

and with a very large

aperture In optics, the aperture of an optical system (including a system consisting of a single lens) is the hole or opening that primarily limits light propagated through the system. More specifically, the entrance pupil as the front side image o ...

. The shell consists mainly of

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

s with only small amounts of

calcium carbonate Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is a common substance found in Rock (geology), rocks as the minerals calcite and aragonite, most notably in chalk and limestone, eggshells, gastropod shells, shellfish skel ...

. The shell is obliquely ovate and globose in shape and very thin. Half the thickness consists of epidermis, marked throughout with plicate line of growth, crossed by faint impressed spiral lines, and on the

last whorl The body whorl is part of the morphology of the shell in those gastropod mollusks that possess a coiled shell. The term is also sometimes used in a similar way to describe the shell of a cephalopod mollusk. In gastropods In gastropods, the b ...

by shallow irregular furrows. The color of the shell can be brownish olive, dark brown and black.

Spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

is small, convex and obtuse. The number of

is 3 and a half, rapidly increasing, the last much larger, rounded at the periphery and beneath. The aperture is very large, oblique, roundly oval, the same colour within as without, but smooth and glossy. The peristome is thin, membranaceous, columellar margin much curved inwards. The width of the shell is 38–63 mm. The height is 30 mm. The width of the aperture is 32 mm and the height of aperture is 30 mm. Blanford W. T. & Godwin-Austen H. H. 1908. ''

The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma ''The Fauna of British India'' (short title) with long titles including ''The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma'', and ''The Fauna of British India Including the Remainder of the Oriental Region'' is a series of scientific books t ...

''
Mollusca. ''Testacellidae and Zonitidae''
Taylor & Francis, London
page 48
��50.

Anatomy

The external soft parts are similar to those of ''

Ariophanta ''Ariophanta'' is a genus of terrestrial gastropods in the subfamily Ariophantinae of the family Ariophantidae. The shell is sinistral or left-handed in its coiling. Species '' Ariophanta laevipes'' is the type species of the genus ''Arioph ...

'', but larger, and not fully retractile within the shell. The mucous pore is of moderate size, there is no distinct overhanging lobe or a small one. The sole of the foot is undivided and very smooth. There are no shell-lobes. The dorsal lobes are well developed, the left divided into an anterior and a posterior part by a deep sinus. Kalc-sac small, receiving the vas deferens; retractor muscle attached to long straight caecum given off at the junction of the flagellum of the male organ. The spermatheca is oval, very short, on a short stem. The amatorial organ (the dart-sac) is stout and long.

Radula

The jaw is straight, with a slight convexity on the cutting-edge and no median projection. The

radula The radula (; : radulae or radulas) is an anatomical structure used by mollusks for feeding, sometimes compared to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food enters ...

is broad, with about 100 rows of teeth: 145 .17 .1 .17 .145; median tooth and the 17 on each side (admedians) long, broadly pointed, straight-sided, lateral cusps indistinct; laterals curved, aculeate, outer laterals bicuspid.

Color of the soft parts

"The animal, as represented in a drawing for which I am indebted to Sir Walter Elliot, is greenish yellow, but according to Col. Beddome it is black. It probably varies." The color of soft parts has great color diversity, (color polymorphism) including white, cream, pale yellow, orange, red and black. Cream color morphs are only found in

Wayanad district Wayanad () is a district in the north-east of the Indian state of Kerala, with its administrative headquarters at the municipality of Kalpetta. It is the only plateau in Kerala. The Wayanad Plateau forms a continuation of the Mysore Plateau, ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

Distribution

This species occurs in the Western Ghats of

, specifically on the wetter western slopes of the

Wynaad Wayanad () is a district in the north-east of the Indian state of Kerala, with its administrative headquarters at the municipality of Kalpetta. It is the only plateau in Kerala. The Wayanad Plateau forms a continuation of the Mysore Plateau, ...

, Nilgiri, and

Anaimalai Hills The Anamala or Anaimalai, also known as the Elephant Mountains, are a range of mountains in the southern Western Ghats of central Kerala ( Idukki district, Ernakulam district, Palakkad district, Thrissur district) and span the border of wester ...

, at moderate elevations (3000 ft).

Habitat

This species lives in wet woodland, i.e.

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are dense and warm rainforests with high rainfall typically found between 10° north and south of the Equator. They are a subset of the tropical forest biome that occurs roughly within the 28° latitudes (in the torrid zo ...

Ecology

Indrella ampulla feeding on large fungi in Anaimalai hills JEG9975

''I. ampulla'' is largely terrestrial, being spottedl on the forest floor while occassionally crossing the forest roads. Although it is a terrestrial snail it has been known to be partly arboreal. This species is reported to be submerged underwater for about 30 minutes while upper tentacles occasionally breaking the water surface.doi:10.12657/folmal.030.006, Leyland, A., Rao, N. M., Shilpe, R., and Menzies, R. K. (2022). First record of aquatic behaviour in an endemic terrestrial snail ''Indrella ampulla'' (Benson, 1850) (Gastropoda: Helicarionoidea: Ariophantidae). ''Folia Malacologica'', 1(30), pp.60-63. https://doi.org/10.12657/folmal.030.006 Colonel Richard Henry Beddome of the British Indian forest service had observed it feeding on large fungi. Their diet primarily consists of fungi and decaying organic matter.

References

The article incorporates public domain text from the reference.

External links

Images:
Photo of individual with pale yellow skin

Pale yellow individual, contracted

Two individuals, one red and one almost white

Two orange individuals

two photos
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q21216772, from2=Q6027109 Ariophantidae Gastropods described in 1850 Endemic fauna of the Western Ghats Fauna of Kerala Fauna of Tamil Nadu Taxa named by William Henry Benson Monotypic gastropod genera