Species name:
Helix aperta Born, 1778
Originally described in:
Born, I. 1778. Index rerum naturalium Musei Cæsarei Vindobonensis. Pars I.ma. Testacea. Verzeichniß der natürlichen Seltenheiten des k. k. Naturalien Cabinets zu Wien. Erster Theil. Schalthiere. - pp. [1-40], 1-458, [1-82]. Vindobonæ. (Kraus).
Distribution:
France W of Rhône estuary, Tyrrhenian Sea islands, Italian peninsula to Liguria and Romagna, Ionian islands, central Greece, Aegean islands, Cyprus (only one locality), and Mediterranean N Africa
Diagnosis:
Shell with periostracum of green olive colour, last whorl much larger than the others.
White convex epiphragma built for estivation. The living snail gives a characteristic noise when disturbed.
Animal of very variable colour, from light yellowish to almost black, juveniles are often greenish yellow with grey tentacles.
Size:
22-28 x 22-28 mm
Biology:
Mediterranean shrublands, near cultivated fields, gardens. In Gavdos (Greece) also in woodland spreading on recently abandoned cultivated fields, more rarely in natural habitats. In Crete active after the first rainfalls in October for 3-4 months, estivates buried relatively deeply in the soil. Ovoid eggs (4-5 x 3 mm) are laid in clutches and deposited in moderately deep holes in the soil.
Threatened:
Protected in France, must not be collected for commercial purposes.
Comments:
Also known as Cantareus apertus. If the genus Helix is understood in a broad sense, classifying this species in the genus Helix (subgenus Cantareus) is acceptable.
References: Moquin-Tandon 1855: 186, Germain 1930: 187, Falkner 1990: 244, Manganelli et al. 1995: 33, Welter-Schultes 1998: 99, Vardinoyannis et al. 2012: 41 (Cyprus, 1 locality), Welter-Schultes 2012: 609 (range map).
