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''Discus rotundatus'', common name rotund disc, is a species of small, air-breathing, land snail, a
/ref> Shells are reddish brown with darker cross bands, flat and densely ribbed. The umbilicus is quite wide, reaching about 1/3 of the shell diameter. Among the species of ''Discus'' in Europe and North America, ''Discus rotundatus'' is recognized by the alternating pattern of reddish brown spots, tight coiling of the whorls and broad and shallow umbilicus. The body of this gastropod is bluish black on the upperside, while the lower side is greyish white. They mainly feed on plant debris, humus, algae and fungi.
These snails, like most terrestrial gastropods, are hermaphrodite. The reproductive season last from May to October. Usually they lay 20-50 eggs in rotting wood or below decaying leaves. Eggs are white and flattened, measure about 1 mm and hatch after 10–30 days. These gastropods reach their maturity only in the second or third season and can live 2–3 years. Unlike many terrestrial snails they do not have a sex dart.
/ref> Its range includes Turkey. The species has been introduced to North America where it was first found in 1937 and now is known from six Canadian provinces (British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador) and 16 states, as well as the District of Columbia, in the United States. It does not appear to have the capability to become an ''invasive'' pest species in North America, as it lives in leaf litter and forms colonies where the individuals do not tend to spread widely.
Fauna Europae : ''Discus rotundatus rotundatus''
/ref> * ''Discus rotundatus omalisma'' (Fagot, 1879)
terrestrial
Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth.
Terrestrial may also refer to:
* Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...
pulmonate
Pulmonata or pulmonates, is an informal group (previously an order, and before that a subclass) of snails and slugs characterized by the ability to breathe air, by virtue of having a pallial lung instead of a gill, or gills. The group includ ...
gastropod
The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda ().
This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...
mollusk
Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...
in the family Discidae
Discidae is a taxonomic family of small air-breathing land snails, terrestrial gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Punctoidea.
Genera
The family Discidae has no subfamilies. Genera within the family Discidae include:
* ''Anguispira'' Morse, ...
, the disk snails.
Description
The shells of ''Discus rotundatus'' in the adult stage measure in diameter and in height.AnimalBase/ref> Shells are reddish brown with darker cross bands, flat and densely ribbed. The umbilicus is quite wide, reaching about 1/3 of the shell diameter. Among the species of ''Discus'' in Europe and North America, ''Discus rotundatus'' is recognized by the alternating pattern of reddish brown spots, tight coiling of the whorls and broad and shallow umbilicus. The body of this gastropod is bluish black on the upperside, while the lower side is greyish white. They mainly feed on plant debris, humus, algae and fungi.
Cycle of life
These snails, like most terrestrial gastropods, are hermaphrodite. The reproductive season last from May to October. Usually they lay 20-50 eggs in rotting wood or below decaying leaves. Eggs are white and flattened, measure about 1 mm and hatch after 10–30 days. These gastropods reach their maturity only in the second or third season and can live 2–3 years. Unlike many terrestrial snails they do not have a sex dart.
Distribution
This species lives in Western and CentralEurope
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. It is found in the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
, Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
, Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
Balashov I. & Gural-Sverlova N. 2012. An annotated checklist of the terrestrial molluscs of Ukraine. ''Journal of Conchology''. 41 (1): 91-109. and Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
. It is also found in Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
, Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, France, Italy, southern Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
, and other countries.Fauna Europae/ref> Its range includes Turkey. The species has been introduced to North America where it was first found in 1937 and now is known from six Canadian provinces (British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador) and 16 states, as well as the District of Columbia, in the United States. It does not appear to have the capability to become an ''invasive'' pest species in North America, as it lives in leaf litter and forms colonies where the individuals do not tend to spread widely.
Habitat
These gastropods live in forests and humid shady places, in dead wood logs, under stones, on humus and in soil litter, sometimes in colonies, at an elevation of above sea level. They can live both in natural habitats and in environments modified by humans, like gardens. The species can tolerate substrate which is non-calcareous
Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines.
In zoology
''Calcareous'' is used as an adje ...
.
Subspecies
* ''Discus rotundatus rotundatus'' (O. F. Müller, 1774)/ref> * ''Discus rotundatus omalisma'' (Fagot, 1879)
References
* Kerney M. P. & Cameron R. A. D., 1979. “A field guide to the land snails of Britain and northwestern Europe’’, Collins, London {{Taxonbar, from=Q1300744 Discidae Gastropods described in 1774 Taxa named by Otto Friedrich Müller