''Liguus'' is a genus of large

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

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 ...

s, more specifically

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...

tree snail Tree snail is a common name that is applied to various kinds of tropical air-breathing land snails, pulmonate gastropod mollusks that have shells, and that live in trees, in other words, are exclusively arboreal in habitat. Some other species of ...

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 ...

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 ...

s in the family

Orthalicidae Orthalicidae (orthalicid land snails) are a family of tropical air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks are classified in the subfamily Orthalicoidea of the order Stylommatophora.MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase ...

. These snails are especially notable for their relatively large size and for their often brightly colored shells, which sometimes have complex color patterning. Because of their visual appeal, the shells have been the target of heavy

collection Collection or Collections may refer to: Computing * Collection (abstract data type), the abstract concept of collections in computer science * Collection (linking), the act of linkage editing in computing * Garbage collection (computing), autom ...

pressure, a serious issue since some varieties are very scarce, and some are believed to have become extinct in the 20th century.Power E. J. ''Liguus'' Home Page. A Conchological informational page for South Florida and Caribbean ''Liguus'' tree snail geographic distribution, ecology and taxonomy. https://www.webcitation.org/5kmrBDMkD?url=http://www.geocities.com/Eureka/Gold/9440/liguus/lighompa.htmlPilsbry H. A. (1912). "A study of the variation and zoogeography of ''Liguus'' in Florida". '' J. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia'' 15''(2nd ser.): 429-471.Pilsbry H. A. (1946). ''Land mollusca of North America north of Mexico vol. II part 1.'' Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia. pp. 1-520.Clench W. J. (1946). "A catalogue of the genus ''Liguus'' with a description of a new subgenus". '' Occ. Pap. Molluscs, Museum Comp. Zool.'' 1(10): 117-128.Jaume M. L. (1952). "Catalogo de los moluscos del genero ''Liguus''". '' Circ. Museo Biblioteca Malacologia Habana'' Mar: 515-527.Jaume M. L. (1954). "Catalogo del genero ''Liguus'' en Cuba (Molusca:Gasteropoda)". '' Circ. Museo Biblioteca Zoologia Habana'' Nov-Dec: 1423-1450.

Distribution

The genus ''Liguus'' is restricted to some of the

Greater Antilles The Greater Antilles is a grouping of the larger islands in the Caribbean Sea, including Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica, together with Navassa Island and the Cayman Islands. Seven island states share the region of the Greater Antille ...

(

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...

) and to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. Four of the species, ''Liguus virgineus'' (Hispaniola), ''L. blainianus'' (

Habana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Pinar del Río Pinar del Río is the capital city of Pinar del Río Province, Cuba. With a population of 191,081 (2022), it is the List of cities in Cuba, 10th-largest city in Cuba. Inhabitants of the area are called ''Pinareños''. History Pinar del Río was ...

Provinces, Cuba), ''L. flammellus'' (

Pinar del Río Pinar del Río is the capital city of Pinar del Río Province, Cuba. With a population of 191,081 (2022), it is the List of cities in Cuba, 10th-largest city in Cuba. Inhabitants of the area are called ''Pinareños''. History Pinar del Río was ...

Province, Cuba), and '' L. vittatus'' ( Oriente Province, Cuba ince 1976, divided into five new provinces, have localized ranges, while the numerous subspecies of ''

Liguus fasciatus ''Liguus fasciatus'' is a species of air-breathing land snail, a tree snail, a terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Orthalicidae. Subspecies In Florida this species includes the following 52 varieties or ...

'' are more widely distributed in both Cuba and southern Florida.

Description

''Liguus'' shares the distinguishing characteristics of other bulimulid gastropods in the subfamily Orthalicinae: large size (about in length), imperforate

umbilicus Umbilicus may refer to: *The navel or belly button *Umbilicus (mollusc), a feature of gastropod, Nautilus and Ammonite shell anatomy *Umbilicus (plant), ''Umbilicus'' (plant), a genus of over ninety species of perennial flowering plants *Umbilicus ...

, a

jaw The jaws are a pair of opposable articulated structures at the entrance of the mouth, typically used for grasping and manipulating food. The term ''jaws'' is also broadly applied to the whole of the structures constituting the vault of the mouth ...

consisting of a limited number of broad plates, and the presence of a pineal gland. The shells of ''Liguus'' are more slender than those of ''Orthalicus'', the only other orthalicine genus with which it is likely to be confused. The shape of ''Liguus'' shells is characterized by Pilsbry as "oblong-conic", versus "ovate-conic" for ''Orthalicus''.

Species

Five species are now usually recognized in the genus ''Liguus'': *'' Liguus virgineus'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

1767 Events January–March * January 1 – The first annual volume of ''The Nautical Almanac and Astronomical Ephemeris'', produced by British Astronomer Royal Nevil Maskelyne at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, gives navigators the ...

) -

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

of the genus ''Liguus'' *'' Liguus blainianus'' ( Poey, 1851)"Mollusca"
. Diversidad Biológica Cubana, accessed 23 March 2011. *''

'' (Müller, 1774) *'' Liguus flammellus'' ( Clench, 1934) *'' Liguus vittatus'' ( Swainson, 1822) Many more species have been recognized in the past based on color varieties in the shell, but these taxa have largely been synonymized or placed as lesser level taxa under one or another of these five named species.

Habitat

These snails are found on trees of many species, usually ones with smooth bark: false tamarind (''

Lysiloma latisiliquum ''Lysiloma latisiliquum'', commonly known as false tamarind or wild tamarind, is a species of tree in the family Fabaceae, that is native to southern Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southea ...

''), gumbo-limbo (''

Bursera simaruba ''Bursera simaruba'', commonly known as gumbo-limbo, the tourist tree, copperwood, almácigo, chaca, West Indian birch, naked Indian, and turpentine tree, is a tree species in the family Burseraceae, native to the Neotropics, from South Florid ...

''), pigeonplum (''

Coccoloba diversifolia ''Coccoloba diversifolia'', known as pigeonplum or tietongue, is a species of the genus ''Coccoloba'' native to coastal areas of the Caribbean, Central America (Belize, Guatemala), southern Mexico, southern Florida (coastal regions from Cape Cana ...

''), black ironwood ('' Krugiodendron ferreum''), false mastic (''

Sideroxylon foetidissimum ''Sideroxylon foetidissimum'', commonly known as false mastic or yellow mastic, is a species of flowering plant in the family Sapotaceae. It is native to Florida in the United States, the Caribbean, and northern Central America Central A ...

''), poisonwood (''

Metopium toxiferum ''Metopium toxiferum'', the poisonwood, Florida poisontree, coral sumac, or hog gum, is a species of flowering tree in the cashew or sumac family, Anacardiaceae, that is native to the American Neotropics. It produces the irritant urushiol muc ...

''), and Jamaica fishpoisontree (''

Piscidia piscipula ''Piscidia piscipula'', commonly named Florida fishpoison tree, Jamaican dogwood, or fishfuddle, is a medium-sized, deciduous, tropical tree in the Fabaceae family. It is native to the Greater Antilles (except Puerto Rico), extreme southern Flori ...

''), among others. In most cases, tropical forests suitable for ''Liguus'' have at least some surficial

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

, and limestone outcroppings are often present.Pilsbry H. A. (1946). ''Land mollusca of North America north of Mexico vol. II part 1''. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia. p. 38.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q6546921 Orthalicidae Fauna of Hispaniola