Euconulidae is a taxonomic family of minute, air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks or micromollusks in the superfamily Trochomorphoidea.
This land snail family is closely allied to the Zonitidae, the glass snails.
Taxonomy The family Euconulidae was originally placed within the superfamily Gastrodontoidea according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda (Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005). Since 2017, its classification has been revised and it now belongs to the superfamily TrochomorphoideaBouchet P., Rocroi J.P., Hausdorf B., Kaim A., Kano Y., Nützel A., Parkhaev P., Schrödl M. & Strong E.E. (2017). Revised classification, nomenclator and typification of gastropod and monoplacophoran families. Malacologia. 61(1-2): 1-526
Distribution The distribution of the Euconulidae includes the Nearctic, the western-Palearctic, the eastern-Palearctic, the Neotropical zone, the Ethiopian zone, Malagasy, south-eastern Asia, Australia, Polynesia and Hawaii.
Humidity, temperature, rainfall, and foliar dripping derived from dew, mist, and rain, affect the behavior and substrate selection of small terrestrial molluscs, such as Tikoconus costarricanus, which inhabit shrubs in humid tropical montane forests.Barrientos, Z. (2020). Microhabitat selection, and seasonal and daily activity of the snail Tikoconus costarricanus (Stylommatophora: Euconulidae) in tropical montane wet forest understory. Revista de Biología Tropical, 68(4), 1131-1142 There is also a preference of some parts of a leaf,Hernández-Quinta, M. (2013). Occupancy of strata of plant height and plant substrate by land snail (Gastropoda) assemblages at Escaleras de Jaruco, Mayabeque, Cuba. The Nautilus, 127(1), 29-35. for example, in some cases the lower side is preferred, possibly because it has better humidity and protects small snails from the impact of raindrops.Moreno-Rueda, G., Ruiz-Ruiz, A., Collantes-Martín, E., & Arrébola, J.R. (2009). Relative importance of humidity and temperature on microhabitat use by land snails in arid versus humid environments. In A. Fernández-Bernal & M.A. De la Rosa (Eds.), Arid Environments and Wind Erosion (pp 331-343). Uni- ted Kingdom: Nova Science Publishers.
Shell description These minute snails have a shell which is roundly conical and broad-based, like the shape of an old-fashioned European woven bee hive or skep. For this reason these snails are sometimes known as "hive snails".
The shells of most Euconulidae are only about 3 mm in size, amber-colored and translucent.
Anatomy In this family, the number of haploid chromosomes lies between 26 and 30 (according to the values in this table).Barker G. M.: Gastropods on Land: Phylogeny, Diversity and Adaptive Morphology. in Barker G. M. (ed.): The biology of terrestrial molluscs. CABI Publishing, Oxon, UK, 2001, . 1-146, cited pages: 139 and 142.
Genera Subfamilies and genera in the family Euconulidae include:
Euconulinae Afroconulus Van Mol & van Bruggen, 1971MolluscaBase (2018). Euconulinae H.B. Baker, 1928. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=994926 on 2018-09-14 Afroguppya de Winter & Bruggen, 1992 Afropunctum F. Haas, 1934 Cancelloconus I. Rensch, 1932 Coneuplecta Möllendorff, 1893 Diepenheimia Preston, 1913 Discoconulus Reinhardt, 1883 Dryachloa F. G. Thompson & H. G. Lee, 1980 Euconulus Reinhardt, 1883 - type genus of the family Euconulidae Guppya Mörch, 1867 Habroconus Crosse & P. Fischer, 1872 Kororia H. B. Baker, 1941 Louisia Godwin-Austen, 1908 Luchuconulus Pilsbry, 1928 Palaua H.B. Baker, 1941 Papuarion Van Mol, 1973 Parasitala Thiele, 1931 Sabalimax Tillier & Bouchet, 1989 Serostena Iredale, 1941 Tikoconus Barrientos, 2019 Velifera W.G. Binney, 1879
Microcystinae Allenoconcha Preston, 1913 Aukena Baker, 1940Bouchet P. & Abdou A. (2001). "Recent Extinct Land Snails (Euconulidae) from the Gambier Islands with Remarkable Apertural Barriers". Pacific Science 55(2): 121-127. . Cookeana Diastole Gude, 1913 Faunulena Greenwoodoconcha Hiona Cooke, 1940 Innesoconcha Iredale, 1944 Iredaleoconcha Preston, 1913 Kaala Kusaiea Baker, 1938 Lamprocystis Liardetia Melloconcha Iredale, 1944 Mendana Microcystis Nancibella Periclocystis Philonesia Sykes, 1900 Piena Pukaloa Tengchiena
Cladogram The following cladogram shows the phylogenic relationships of this family with the other families within the limacoid clade:Hausdorf B. (2000). "Biogeography of the Limacoidea sensu lato (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora): Vicariance Events and Long-Distance Dispersal". Journal of Biogeography 27(2): 379-390. , JSTOR.
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