Cantareus apertus (Born, 1778)

Bouaziz-Yahiatene, Houria, Inaebnit, Thomas, Medjdoub-Bensaad, Ferroudja, Colomba, Maria Stella, Sparacio, Ignazio, Gregorini, Armando, Liberto, Fabio & Neubert, Eike, 2019, Revisited - the species of Tweeting vineyard snails, genus Cantareus Risso, 1826 (Stylommatophora, Helicidae, Helicinae, Otalini), ZooKeys 876, pp. 1-26 : 6

Cantareus apertus (Born, 1778) Figs 2 , 3 , 4 , 21-24

Helix aperta Born, 1778, Index rerum naturalium Musei Caesarei Vindobonensis, I. Testacea : 399 [no type locality mentioned].

Helix naticoides : 1801, Draparnaud, Tableau des mollusques terrestres et fluviatiles de la France: 78-79 [France, la Provence, à Antibes, à Cannes].

Type material.

Syntype aperta : NHMW-MO 14005.

Specimens examined.

Italy: Foggia, Ordona, 41.313889N, 15.622222E, 12.10.2018, leg. G. Martucci (ex coll. Sparacio 5031/9), coll. Liberto ( Fig. 3 ); Calabria, Amantea, Marincola, 39.112778N, 16.079722E, 7.10.2018, leg. W. Renda, NMBE 560941/2 (preserved), ex coll. Liberto ( Fig. 4 ).

Description.

Shell thick, medium sized if compared to other helicid species, with a depressed spire and a large last whorl occupying more than two thirds of the complete height of the shell; protoconch small, consisting of 1.5 smooth whorls; teleoconch consisting of approximately 4 whorls, separated by a deep, sometimes crenulated suture; basic colour of teleoconch greenish-brownish, often with longitudinal yellow streaks and a few scattered zig-zag markings; surface of teleoconch smooth, but also often covered by low longitudinal riblets; aperture almost perfectly rounded, enormously large, old specimens with an inconspicuous whitish lip; umbilicus always completely closed.

Genital organs: penis short, club-shaped, epiphallus short, of the same length as penis, mrp attaching in the distal third of epiphallus or even closer to penis; flagellum twice the length of the epiphallus; atrial and penial lumen with numerous crests, penial chamber lumen is wrinkled, pp2 a short broad papilla with a central perforation structured by thick annuli to almost completely reduced forming a septum; pp1 a blind papilla, in a central position inside the penial chamber, elongate, sometimes with a broadened tip; epiphallial pore in a lateral position; distal epiphallial lumen with six broad pilasters, the proximal lumen with elongated ridges.

Vagina short, stem of pedunculus thickened and short, diverticulum slightly longer than the vesicle stem + vesicle, longer than the flagellum; glandulae mucosae longer than the dart sac, with a thickened basal part and two subsequent ramifications, tubules thin and weak, less than 10 tubules per stem; atrium with a medium sized stimulator flap.

Measurements.

Syntype NHMW: H = 28.25 mm; D = 28.75 mm; PH = 22.3 mm; PD = 19.2 mm.

Distribution.

South-eastern France including Corsica, Italy, Sicily, south-eastern Adriatic coast, Albania, western Greece; scattered found introduced on some Aegean Islands, and in Turkey, Muğla, Gökçebel ( Örstan et al. 2005: 7).

Remarks.

The anatomy of the genital organs of C. apertus has been investigated by several authors, for example Hesse (1919), Germain (1930) and Giusti et al. (1995). Schileyko (2006: 1801, fi.g. 2308) presented also details of the penial lumina. In his picture of the genital organs of an animal collected in the surroundings of Pisa, Italy, he misinterpreted the morphology of the epiphallial papilla (pp1) suggesting that it was a functional papilla as in many other helicid genera (the illustrated shell comes from Arles, France, and thus does not belong to the dissected specimen). Secondly, in his specimen, the penial papilla (pp2) was completely reduced, so only the perpendicular wall forming the basis of pp2 was left. This led to the misapprehension that in the genus Cantareus , this papilla is reduced, and only a “septum” is left in the place of the papilla.

Figures

Figure 2. Cantareus apertus. Syntype of Helix aperta NHMW-MO 14005, shell diameter 28.75 mm. Shell in A frontal B dorsal C lateral and D apical views E labels of the syntype lot. Photographs NHMW, x 1.5.

Figure 3. Cantareus apertus. Italy, Foggia, Ordona A shell in frontal (left) and B lateral (right) view; genital anatomy: situs (C) and a section showing the male genital tract and the atrium (D). Photographs F. Liberto.

Figure 4. Cantareus apertus. Italy, Calabria, Amantea, Marincola, NMBE 560941 A shell in frontal and B lateral views C genital anatomy, situs D, E details showing the male genital tract and the atrium. Photographs E. Neubert, shell x 1.5.

Figures 21 - 25. Pictures of living specimens of Cantareus species 21 Cantareus apertus: on the left a black specimen with brown shell from Roccapalumba, Sicily, Italy, 15. XI. 2009 (Coll. F. Liberto 5532); on the right a yellow specimen with green shell from Prizzi, Sicily, Italy, 15. XI. 2009 (Coll. F. Liberto 5545) 22 Cantareus apertus, Niscemi, Sicily Italy, 22. X. 2016 23 Cantareus apertus, Niscemi, Sicily, Italy, 22. X. 2016, specimens defending themselves by emitting bubbles of slime and a series of tweeting sounds 24 Cantareus apertus, Foggia, Ordona, 41.313889 N, 15.622222 E, 12.10.2018, leg. G. Martucci (photo / collection I. Sparacio 5031 / 9) 25 Cantareus subapertus, Algeria, Parc National du Djudjura, 1700 m, 11. X. 2008 (Photographs Vela Errol).