Helmintoglyptidae
Abnormalities in Cuban snails
06-05-2010 09:21
Adrián González kindly
sent me some interesting pictures of abnormal Cuban
land snails. Some of you may call them weird and some
consider them as ‘freaks’ which are highly valued by
collectors.
The first pictures are of Zachrysia guanensis castanea Aguayo & Jaume, 1954, from the Cuajani valley in Viñales, Piñar del Río province. This is an animal with a split in the right ocular tentacle.
The second series considers Polymita muscorum from Holguín province. Here is P. m. splendida Torre, 1950 from municipality of Frank País, Corinthia:
Interestingly, this population shows very few or none of the spots that are normal in P. muscarum.
But Adrián also found an albino form that is very common in many populations; this one is also P. m. splendida from Cano Doce, Banes in Holguín province. Note the spots on the shell typically of P. muscarum and compare them with those on the last shell in this series, which is known as P. sulphurosa flammulata Torre, 1950.
The dots in this shell may indicate a hybridization process between P. sulphurosa and P. muscarum.
Finally, within the population of P. m. splendida at Cano Doce, there is a conical shaped form, described as variety subrocheri by Carlos de la Torre in 1950 (foreground left in the next picture). It is recommended that this population is studied before their habitat is converted into pasture land.
Within this population, some abnormal (‘teratological’) shaped specimens were observed.
Alejandro Fernández, Vicente Berovides and Bernardo Reyes-Tur have made important studies about Polymita (references in the bibliography on Cuban land snails). One of the papers is by Fernández & Berovides (1995), reporting on the different subspecies of P. muscarum in Holguín province. The distribution of these forms in this province would make a more detailed study, using DNA to clarify the phylogeography of the traits, very interesting.
Thanks Adrián, for sharing this information.
Reference:
Fernández, A. & Berovides, V., 1995. Las subespecies de Polymita muscarum en Holguín (Gastropoda: Helminthoglyptidae). - Cocuyo 4: 26-28.
The first pictures are of Zachrysia guanensis castanea Aguayo & Jaume, 1954, from the Cuajani valley in Viñales, Piñar del Río province. This is an animal with a split in the right ocular tentacle.
The second series considers Polymita muscorum from Holguín province. Here is P. m. splendida Torre, 1950 from municipality of Frank País, Corinthia:
Interestingly, this population shows very few or none of the spots that are normal in P. muscarum.
But Adrián also found an albino form that is very common in many populations; this one is also P. m. splendida from Cano Doce, Banes in Holguín province. Note the spots on the shell typically of P. muscarum and compare them with those on the last shell in this series, which is known as P. sulphurosa flammulata Torre, 1950.
The dots in this shell may indicate a hybridization process between P. sulphurosa and P. muscarum.
Finally, within the population of P. m. splendida at Cano Doce, there is a conical shaped form, described as variety subrocheri by Carlos de la Torre in 1950 (foreground left in the next picture). It is recommended that this population is studied before their habitat is converted into pasture land.
Within this population, some abnormal (‘teratological’) shaped specimens were observed.
Alejandro Fernández, Vicente Berovides and Bernardo Reyes-Tur have made important studies about Polymita (references in the bibliography on Cuban land snails). One of the papers is by Fernández & Berovides (1995), reporting on the different subspecies of P. muscarum in Holguín province. The distribution of these forms in this province would make a more detailed study, using DNA to clarify the phylogeography of the traits, very interesting.
Thanks Adrián, for sharing this information.
Reference:
Fernández, A. & Berovides, V., 1995. Las subespecies de Polymita muscarum en Holguín (Gastropoda: Helminthoglyptidae). - Cocuyo 4: 26-28.