Rhiostoma

Rhiostoma is a genus of operculate land snails in the family Cyclophoridae, native to parts of Asia. They are sometimes referred to as "snorkel snails" due to the tubular structure found on the final whorl of their shell, which resembles a snorkel.

Rhiostoma
The shell of Rhiostoma smithi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Caenogastropoda
informal group Architaenioglossa
Superfamily:
Cyclophoroidea
Family:
Cyclophoridae
Subfamily:
Cyclophorinae
Tribe:
Pterocyclini
Genus:
Rhiostoma

Benson, 1860:[1]

Description

The shell is subdiscoidal with a broad umbilicus. The last whorl is separate from the rest of the shell and features a tube-like snorkel structure. The operculum is multispiral.[1]

Etymology

The name is derived from "rhion" meaning a promontory and "stoma" meaning hole.[2] In anatomy, a promontory is another word for a protuberance, so Rhiostoma can be understood to mean "protruding hole." This name refers to the snorkel on the shell which is the defining characteristic of the genus.

Ecology

Somwang Pathamakanthin of Thailand said about the ecology of Rhiostoma, "As we have kept some living animals of Rhiostoma species in our garden, we know that most of them burrow into the ground during the day and are active only when it is raining or-sometimes-during the night, when the temperature is lower and the humidity is higher. When it is extremely hot during the day, we observed that species of the large variety of Rhiostoma smithi (from the Chanthaburi province) preferred to move into water, where they stayed for days! Others have been resting under the shade of trees, under rocks and fallen wood. We have been informed that the bluish Rhiostoma from Songkhla province prefers to burrow into the soil underneath fallen wood or under stones close to the foot of limestone hills."[3]

Taxonomy

Species within the genus Rhiostoma include [4]

  • Rhiostoma abletti Thach, 2016
  • Rhiostoma asiphon
  • Rhiostoma cambodjense Morelet, 1875
  • Rhiostoma boxalli Godwin-Austen, 1893
  • Rhiostoma chupingense Tomlin, 1938
  • Rhiostoma dalyi Blanford, 1902
  • Rhiostoma hainesi Pfeiffer, 1862
  • Rhiostoma jalorense
  • Rhiostoma jousseaumei
  • Rhiostoma macalpinewoodsi Laidlaw, 1939
  • Rhiostoma morleti
  • Rhiostoma samuiense
  • Rhiostoma simplicilabre L. Pfeiffer, 1862
  • Rhiostoma smithi
  • Rhiostoma spelaeotes
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References
  1. Benson W. H. (1860). On Clostophis and Rhiostoma, new Burmese genera of land-shells. The Annals and Magazine of Natural History. ser. 3, 5: 95-97., available online at http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/61855#page/109/mode/1up
  2. Tate, R.; Waterhouse, A.N. (1875). A Manual of the Mollusca Being a Treatise on Recent and Fossil Shells. Lockwood & Company. p. 1-PA47. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  3. p."Hemmen, Jens (1999). Rhisostoma. Roma: Evolver. ISBN 978-88-8299-004-6. OCLC 174736001.
  4. MolluscaBase (2018). Rhiostoma Benson, 1860. Accessed at: http://molluscabase.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=886689 on 2019-09-15


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