Cecilioides acicula, also known as the blind snail or blind awlsnail, is a subterranean species of small, air-breathing land snail. It is a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Ferussaciidae.
Description Cecilioides acicula is white, eyeless, and has two pairs of tentacles.Adam, W. 1960. Mollusques. Faune de Belgique, Tome 1, mollusques terrestres et dulcicoles. Bruxelles: Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique. 402 pp., 4 pl.
Their shell is long and narrow, with a maximum length of 5.5 mm and a maximum width of 1.2 mm.M.P. Kerney and R.A.D. Cameron, 1979, A Field Guide to the Land Snails of Britain and North-west Europe. Collins, London, Fresh shells are colorless, glassy and transparent, while older shells are an opaque milky-white.
Habitat Cecilioides acicula is a subterranean species, most commonly found in soils with a high level of calcium.
Due to its subterranean habitat, this species is often found as an empty shell in places such as mole hills, ant hills, or in flood debris of rivers.
Distribution
The native range of Cecilioides acicula is Mediterranean Europe, specifically Western Europe (Great Britain and Ireland, Netherlands,) and Central Europe (Czech Republic,Juřičková L., Horsák M. & Beran L., 2001: Check-list of the molluscs (Mollusca) of the Czech Republic. Acta Soc. Zool. Bohem., 65: 25-40. Poland, Slovakia Lisický M. J. (1991). Mollusca Slovenska. [The Slovak molluscs]. VEDA vydavateľstvo Slovenskej akadémie vied, Bratislava, 344 pp., UkraineBalashov I. & Gural-Sverlova N. 2012. An annotated checklist of the terrestrial molluscs of Ukraine. Journal of Conchology. 41 (1): 91-109.).
It has also been accidentally introduced to several non-native countries: Latvia since 2006Šteffek J., Stalažs A. & Dreijers E., 2008: Snail fauna of the oldest cemeteries from Riga (Latvia). – Malacologica Bohemoslovaca, 7: 79–80. Online serial at <http://mollusca.sav.sk> 29-September-2008. Bermuda since 1861Bieler, R. & Slapcinsky, J. 2000. A case study for development of an island fauna: recent terrestrial mollusks of Bermuda. Nemouria No. 44:1-99. Canada (Ontario)Forsyth, R.G., M.J. Oldham, & F.W. Schueler. 2008. Mollusca, Gastropoda, Ellobiidae, Carychium minimum, and Ferussaciidae, Cecilioides acicula: distribution extension and first provincial records of two introduced land snails in Ontario, Canada. Check List 4(4): 449–452. The United States (Pennsylvania, Florida,Pilsbry, H.A. 1946. Land Mollusca of North America (north of Mexico). Volume 2, part 1. Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. Maryland since 1959,Grimm, W. 1959. Land snails of Carroll County, Maryland. Nautilus 72:122-127. Virginia since 2006, California, New Jersey and New Mexico.) New ZealandBarker, G.M. 1999. Naturalised terrestrial Stylommatophora (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Fauna of New Zealand. No. 38. Manaaki Whenua Press. AustraliaBonham K (2005) Cecilioides acicula (Muller 1774) (Pulmonata: Ferussaciidae), a burrowing land snail introduced into Tasmania. Tasmanian Naturalist 127:42-44
References
Spencer, H.G., Marshall, B.A. & Willan, R.C. (2009). Checklist of New Zealand living Mollusca. pp 196–219 in Gordon, D.P. (ed.) New Zealand inventory of biodiversity. Volume one. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch.
External links
Cecilioides acicula at Animalbase taxonomy, short description, distribution, biology, status (threats), images Cecilioides acicula Fauna Europaea