Amphidromus

Amphidromus
The species Amphidromus roseolabiatus has dextral shell coiling.
The species Amphidromus fuscolabris has sinistral shell coiling.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Stylommatophora
Superfamily: Helicoidea
Family: Camaenidae
Subfamily: Camaeninae
Genus: Amphidromus
Albers, 1850[1]
Type species
Amphidromus perversus
Species

See text

Diversity[2][3]
Over 110 species
Synonyms
  • Amphidromus (Amphidromus) Albers, 1850· accepted, alternate representation
  • Amphidromus (Goniodromus) Bülow, 1905· accepted, alternate representation
  • Amphidromus (Syndromus) Pilsbry, 1900· accepted, alternate representation
  • Amphidronus Albers, 1850 (incorrect subsequent spelling)
  • Bulimus (Amphidromus) Albers, 1850 (original rank)
  • Goniodromus Bülow, 1905
  • Syndromus Pilsbry, 1900

Amphidromus is a genus of tropical air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Camaenidae. The shells of Amphidromus are relatively large, from 25 mm (0.98 in) to 75 mm (3.0 in) in maximum dimension, and particularly colorful. During the 18th century, they were among the first Indonesian land snail shells brought to Europe by travelers and explorers. Since then, the genus has been extensively studied: several comprehensive monographs and catalogs were authored by naturalists and zoologists during the time period from the early 19th to the mid 20th centuries. Modern studies have focused on better understanding the evolutionary relationships within the group, as well as solving taxonomic problems.

The genus Amphidromus is unusual in that it includes species that have dextral shell-coiling and species that have sinistral shell-coiling. In addition, some species within this genus are particularly notable because their populations simultaneously include individuals with left-handed and right-handed shell-coiling. This is an extremely rare phenomenon, and very interesting to biologists. Studies focused on the soft anatomy of Amphidromus are scattered and fragmentary. Information on the internal anatomy is known only from a few species, and no larger, comparative morphological study has ever been carried out.

Species in the genus Amphidromus are arboreal — in other words, they are tree snails. However, more detailed information on their habits is still lacking. The general feeding habits of these snails are unknown, but a few species are known to feed on microscopic fungi, lichens or terrestrial algae. Amphidromus themselves are preyed upon by birds, snakes, and probably also by smaller mammals such as rats.

  1. ^ Albers J. C. (1850). Die Heliceen nach natürlicher Verwandtschaft: systematisch georduct: 138.
  2. ^ Sutcharit, Chirasak; Ablett, Jonathan; Tongkerd, Piyoros; Naggs, Fred; Panha, Somsak (30 March 2015). "Illustrated type catalogue of Amphidromus Albers, 1850 in the Natural History Museum, London, and descriptions of two new species". ZooKeys (492): 49–105. doi:10.3897/zookeys.492.8641. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 4389215. PMID 25878542. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Inkhavilay 2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).