Cepaea

Not to be confused with the plant Sedum cepaea, the pink stonecrop.

Cepaea
White-lipped snail Cepaea hortensis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Stylommatophora
Family: Helicidae
Subfamily: Helicinae
Tribe: Allognathini
Genus: Cepaea
Held, 1838[1]
Type species
Helix nemoralis
Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms
  • Cepaea (Cepaea) Held, 1838
  • Helix (Tachaea) [sic] (incorrect subsequent spelling; junior homonym of Tachea Fleming, 1822 [Aves])
  • Helix (Tachea) W. Turton, 1831 (Invalid: junior homonym of Tachea Fleming, 1822 [Aves])
  • Hystrionica Scudder, 1882
  • Tachea W. Turton, 1831

Cepaea is a genus of large air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the family Helicidae. The shells are often brightly coloured and patterned with brown stripes. The two species in this genus, C. nemoralis and C. hortensis, are widespread and common in Western and Central Europe and have been introduced to North America. Both have been influential model species for ongoing studies of genetics and natural selection. Like many Helicidae, these snails use love darts during mating.[2]

  1. ^ Held, F. (1838). "Notizen über die Weichthiere Bayerns. (Fortsetzung)". Isis (Leipzig). 1837 (12): 902–921.
  2. ^ Robert Nordsieck. "Banded Snails (Cepaea Held 1838)". The Living World of Molluscs. Retrieved 19 August 2015.