''Xeroplexa setubalensis'' 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 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 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 ...

in the family

Geomitridae Geomitridae is a taxonomic family of small to medium-sized air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Helicoidea Helicoidea is a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic Taxonomic rank, superfamily of air-b ...

.MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Xeroplexa setubalensis (L. Pfeiffer, 1850). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1308902 on 2022-07-28 The taxa was previously placed within the genus ''

Candidula ''Candidula'' is a genus of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Geomitridae, .MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Candidula Kobelt, 1871. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: ht ...

'' until a molecular phylogenetic study revealed its current status. This

taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

is 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 ''

Xeroplexa ''Xeroplexa'' is a genus of small, air-breathing land snails, Terrestrial animal, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the subfamily Helicellinae of the family Geomitridae, the hairy snails and their allies.MolluscaBase eds. (2022). Mollu ...

''.

Description

Distribution

''X. setubalensis'' is endemic to the central coast of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

(western

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

). Only few populations are known from Serra da Arrábida and Serra do São Luís, placed in the right side of

Sado river The Sado () is a river in southern Portugal; it is one of the major rivers in the country. It flows in a northerly direction (the only major Portuguese river to do so) through from its springs in the hills of Ourique before entering the Atlanti ...

. The subspecies ''Xeroplexa setubalensis amanda'' (Bourguignat, 1864) occurs off

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

, Algeria.Bourguignat, Malacologie de l'Algérie, ou, Histoire naturelle des animaux mollusques terrestres et fluviatiles recueillis jusqu'à ce jour dans nos possessions du nord de l'Afrique; Paris, Challamel aine,́ 1864
/ref>

References

External links

* http://luisjavierchueca.com/research-3/candidula-s-l/
Morelet, A. (1845). Description des mollusques terrestres et fluviatiles du Portugal. Baillière, Paris. i-vii + 1-115 (+ 1), 14 pls

feiffer, L. (1850). Beschreibungen neuer Landschnecken. Zeitschrift für Malakozoologie. Cassel. 7 (5): 65-80 (July 1850); 7 (6): 81-89 (August 1850)
* Gittenberger, E. (1985). The taxonomic status of Xeroplexa Monterosato, 1892 (Pulmonata: Helicidae: Helicellinae), a surprise. Iberus. 5: 59-62 {{Taxonbar, from=Q65064592 setubalensis Gastropods described in 1850