Helix figulina | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
Subclass: | Heterobranchia |
Order: | Stylommatophora |
Family: | Helicidae |
Genus: | Helix |
Subgenus: | Pelasga |
Species: | H. figulina
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Binomial name | |
Helix figulina |
Helix figulina is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Helicidae, the typical snails. [1]
The shells of this species are dirty white to yellow-brownish in color, usually 21-27×20-26 mm in size. Large shells are about 29-31×29-30 mm. [5]
This species is present in Greece, Bulgaria and North Macedonia, [6] except, perhaps, the island of Skyros in the Aegean Sea, where only empty shells of the species have been found, suggesting a recent extinction in the area. [7] There have been reports of the species in western Turkey, however, it seems that these are actually Helix nucula, a related and similar species.
This land snail is found in a variety of habitats including dry, open, shrub-land areas. It ranges from coastal areas (dunes) up to 700 m above sea level. On the continent, it lives only in areas where there is enough soil, as it is a soil-dwelling species, and sometimes buries deep into the soil. In southwest Bulgaria it lives at altitudes of up to 700 m. [1] [5]