Photo of the day (40): Plekocheilus
21-02-2009 16:11
Interestingly, the Slovakian geological-speleological
team that visited Venezuelan Guayana the past weeks,
found quite a number of snails. I reported on their
preliminary findings
here,
but today I got more information on two species that
were found on the Chimantá massif.
The first picture is from a juvenile specimen of Plekocheilus (Eurytus) juliani Haas, 1955. The picture shows the characteristic zig-zag striping and the light body colour, darker on the upper part. This species lives on bromeliads (Brocchinia sp.) that were found in canyons more than 100 m deep.
The second species is P. (E.) mundiperditi Haas, 1955. It has a dark-brown shell and also the animal is darker coloured throughout. This species was only encountered on top of the plateau, associated with low Bonnetia trees.
To me it seems that these species each occur in a narrow ecological niche, possibly with their own host plants.
Thanks to Jan Schlogl, who kindly sent me the pictures.
The first picture is from a juvenile specimen of Plekocheilus (Eurytus) juliani Haas, 1955. The picture shows the characteristic zig-zag striping and the light body colour, darker on the upper part. This species lives on bromeliads (Brocchinia sp.) that were found in canyons more than 100 m deep.
The second species is P. (E.) mundiperditi Haas, 1955. It has a dark-brown shell and also the animal is darker coloured throughout. This species was only encountered on top of the plateau, associated with low Bonnetia trees.
To me it seems that these species each occur in a narrow ecological niche, possibly with their own host plants.
Thanks to Jan Schlogl, who kindly sent me the pictures.