Succineidae

Succineidae
Succinea putris in Oxfordshire
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
(unranked):	clade Heterobranchia clade Euthyneura clade Panpulmonata clade Eupulmonata clade Stylommatophora clade Elasmognatha
Superfamily:	Succineoidea Beck, 1837
Family:	Succineidae Beck, 1837
Genera
See text

Succineidae are a family of small to medium-sized, air-breathing land snails (and slugs), terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. They are commonly called amber snails because their thin fragile shells are translucent and amber-colored. They usually live in damp habitats such as marshes.^[1]

Succineidae is the only family in the superfamily Succineoidea.^[2]

The soft parts of the animal appear to be too large for the shell.^[1]

Anatomy

In this family, the number of haploid chromosomes varies greatly. The most common totals are less than 10, and also lies between 21 and 25, but other values are also possible (according to the values in this table).^[3]

Taxonomy

The family Succineidae contains two subfamilies (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005):

• Succineinae Beck, 1837 - synonyms: Hyalimacinae Godwin-Austen, 1882; Oxylomatinae Schileyko & I. M. Likharev, 1986
• Catinellinae Odhner, 1950

Genera

Genera in the family Succineidae include:^[4]

The succineid slug Hyalimax maillardi from the island of Réunion

• Succineinae Beck, 1837
  • Hyalimax H. Adams & A. Adams, 1855
  • Novisuccinea Pilsbry, 1948
  • Omalonyx d’Orbigny, 1837^[5]
  • Oxyloma Westerlund, 1885
  • Succinea Draparnaud, 1801
  • Succinella Mabille, 1871
  • † Papyrotheca Brusina, 1893
• Catinellinae Odhner, 1950
  • Catinella Pease, 1870
  • Quickella C. Boettgger, 1939

Conservation status

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) considers five species or subspecies of ambersnail as threatened with extinction, and a further three species are categorized as "data deficient" which were previously considered Vulnerable or Extinct, and two species are listed as Near Threatened.^[6]

Threatened species

• Oxyloma kanabense - Kanab Ambersnail, Critically Endangered
• Succinea piratarum - Endangered
• Succinea quadrasi - Endangered
• Boninosuccinea ogasawarae - Vulnerable
• Boninosuccinea punctulispira - Vulnerable

Assigned other IUCN categories

• Catinella arenaria - Sandbowl Snail, Near Threatened
• Succinea sanctaehelenae - Near Threatened
• Succinea guamensis - Data Deficient, previously considered Extinct
• Succinea chittenangoensis - Chittenago Ovate Ambersnail - Data Deficient, previously Vulnerable
• Succinea philippinica - Data Deficient, previously Vulnerable

References

1. Janus, Horst, 1965. ‘’The young specialist looks at land and freshwater molluscs’’, Burke, London
2. Bouchet P., Rocroi J.-P., Frýda J., Hausdorf B., Ponder W., Valdés Á. & Warén A. (2005). "Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families". Malacologia: International Journal of Malacology (Hackenheim, Germany: ConchBooks) 47 (1-2): 1–397. ISBN 3-925919-72-4. ISSN 0076-2997.
3. Barker G. M.: Gastropods on Land: Phylogeny, Diversity and Adaptive Morphology. in Barker G. M. (ed.): The biology of terrestrial molluscs. CABI Publishing, Oxon, UK, 2001, ISBN 0-85199-318-4. 1-146, cited pages: 139 and 142.
4. The Animal Diversity Web (online)
5. Robinson D. G., Hovestadt A., Fields A. & Breure A. S. H. (July 2009). "The land Mollusca of Dominica (Lesser Antilles), with notes on some enigmatic or rare species". Zoologische Mededelingen 83 http://www.zoologischemededelingen.nl/83/nr03/a13
6. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. [www.iucnredlist.org]

External links

• "Succineidae". National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).