''Euglandina'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

predatory Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

medium- to large-sized, air-breathing,

land snail A land snail is any of the numerous species of snail that live on land, as opposed to the sea snails and freshwater snails. ''Land snail'' is the common name for terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells (those without shells are known as ...

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 ...

s in the family

Spiraxidae Spiraxidae is a family of predatory air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropods in the superfamily Testacelloidea (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005). Distribution The distribution of th ...

.
PDF
. These snails were previously placed in the family

Oleacinidae Oleacinidae is a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic family (biology), family of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the clade Eupulmonata (according to the Taxonomy of the Gastropoda (Bouchet & ...

(according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005). ''Euglandina'' is the type genus of the subfamily Euglandininae. The pulmonate genus ''Euglandina'' is often referred to as ''Glandina'' in older literature, and the most widely known species, ''

Euglandina rosea ''Euglandina rosea'', the rosy wolfsnail or cannibal snail, is a species of medium-sized to large predatory air-breathing land snail, a carnivorous terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Spiraxidae.MolluscaBase eds. (2020). Moll ...

'', may commonly be found under the synonym ''Glandina truncata''. These snails are especially notable for being

carnivorous A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other sof ...

and

. They are sometimes called "wolf snails" for that reason.

Distribution

The natural range of ''Euglandina'' encompasses much of the

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

and

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the antimeridian. The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Politically, the term We ...

, including the Southeastern United States to Texas, Mexico, and various locations in Central and South America. The species ''E. rosea'' has been intentionally introduced into many other warm areas — from Hawaii to New Guinea, Bermuda, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, and numerous other locations — in a vain attempt to control accidentally introduced species of snails, usually the giant African ''

Achatina fulica ''Lissachatina fulica'' is a species of large land snail that belongs in the subfamily Achatininae of the family Achatinidae. It is also known as the Giant African land snail.pest, an

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

that could negatively affect agriculture, natural ecosystems, human health, or commerce. Therefore, these species should be given top national

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...

significance in the USA. EuglandinaRoseaExBinney1

Species

The three subgeneraThompson F. G. (16 June 2008)
"AN ANNOTATED CHECKLIST AND BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE LAND AND FRESHWATER SNAILS OF MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA"

. accessed 14 January 2011. and species in the genus ''Euglandina'' include: Subgenus ''Euglandina'' Crosse & Fischer, 1870 *''

Euglandina anomala ''Euglandina anomala'' is a species of predatory air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Spiraxidae.Thompson F. G. (16 June 2008)"AN ANNOTATED CHECKLIST AND BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE LAND AND FRESHWATER SN ...

'' (Angas, 1879) *''

Euglandina aurata ''Euglandina aurata'' is a species of large predatory air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are k ...

'' (Morelet, 1849) Thompson F. D. (1987)
"Giant carnivorous land snails from Mexico and Central America"
'' Bulletin of the Florida State Museum'' (Biological Sciences) 30(2): 29-52. - type species *''

Euglandina aurantiaca ''Pittieria aurantiaca'' is a species of predatory air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Spiraxidae. This species was described based on only one specimen. This specimen was collected by William Mo ...

'' Angas, 1879 * ''

Euglandina bailyi ''Euglandina bailyi'' is a species of large predatory air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are k ...

'' M. Smith, 1950 * ''

Euglandina binneyana ''Euglandina binneyana'' is a species of large predatory air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which ar ...

'' (Pfeiffer, 1845) *''

Euglandina broctontomlini ''Euglandina'' is a genus of predatory medium- to large-sized, air-breathing, land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Spiraxidae.PDF. These snails were previously placed in the family Oleacinidae (according to th ...

'' Pilsbry, 1926 * '' Euglandina cognata'' (Strebel, 1875) * '' Euglandina cuneus'' (Von Martens, 1891) *'' Euglandina cumingi'' ''cumingi'' Beck, 1837 *'' Euglandina cumingi rubromarginata'' Martens, 1891 *'' Euglandina cylindracea'' Phillips, 1846 * '' Euglandina dactylus'' (Broderip, 1832) * '' Euglandina daudebarti'' (Deshayes, 1850) ** ''Euglandina daudebarti amoena'' (Von Martens, 1865) ** ''Euglandina daudebarti jalapana'' (Von Martens, 1891) ** ''Euglandina daudebarti miradorensis'' (Strebel, 1878) * '' Euglandina gigantea'' Pilsbry, 1926 * '' Euglandina huingensis'' (Pilsbry, 1903) * '' Euglandina immemorata'' Pilsbry, 1907 * '' Euglandina indusiata'' (Pfeiffer, 1860) *'' Euglandina isabellina'' Pfeiffer, 1846) * '' Euglandina lamyi'' (Fischer & Chatelet, 1903) * '' Euglandina liebmanni'' (Pfeiffer, 1846) * '' Euglandina livida'' Dall, 1908 * '' Euglandina michoacanensis'' (Pilsbry, 1899) *'' Euglandina mitriformis'' (Angas, 1879) *'' Euglandina monilifera Pfeiffer, 1845 '' **''Euglandina monilifera pulcherrima'' Pfeiffer, 1845 * '' Euglandina pan'' Thompson, 1987 * '' Euglandina pilsbryi'' Bartsch, 1909 * '' Euglandina pinicola'' (Fischer & Crosse, 1870) *'' Euglandina pittieri'' (Martens, 1901) * '' Euglandina radula'' (Strebel, 1875) * ''

'' (Férussac, 1821) * '' Euglandina sowerbyana'' (Pfeiffer, 1846) ** ''Euglandina sowerbyana estephaniae'' (Strebel, 1875) * '' Euglandina striata'' (Müller, 1774) * '' Euglandina texasiana'' (Pfeiffer, 1856) * ''Euglandina texasiana angustior'' Pilsbry & Vanatta, 1936 * '' Euglandina titan'' Thompson, 1987 * '' Euglandina vanuxemensis'' (Lea, 1834) Subgenus '' Singleya'' H. B. Baker, 1941 * ''

'' (Angas, 1879) ** ''Euglandina anomala barrocoloradensis'' Pilsbry, 1930 * '' Euglandina balesi'' Pilsbry, 1938 * '' Euglandina candida'' (Shuttleworth, 1852) ** ''Euglandina candida conularis'' (Pfeiffer, 1855) * '' Euglandina carminensis'' (Morelet, 1849) * '' Euglandina corneola'' (W. G. Binney, 1857) * '' Euglandina decussata'' (Deshayes, 1840) * '' Euglandina excavata'' (Von Martens, 1891) * '' Euglandina ghiesbreghti'' (Pfeiffer, 1856) * '' Euglandina hererrae'' (Contreras, 1923) * '' Euglandina insignis'' (Pfeiffer, 1855) * '' Euglandina jacksoni'' Pilsbry & Vanatta, 1936 * '' Euglandina longula'' (Fischer & Crosse, 1870) * '' Euglandina lowei'' Pilsbry, 1931 * '' Euglandina mazatlanica'' (Von Martens, 1891) ** ''Euglandina mazatlanica abbreviata'' (Von Martens, 1891) * '' Euglandina pseudoturris'' (Strebel, 1875) * '' Euglandina singleyana'' (W. G. Binney, 1878) * '' Euglandina tenella'' (Strebel, 1875) * '' Euglandina turris'' (Pfeiffer, 1846) ** ''Euglandina turris longurio'' Pilsbry & Cockerell, 1926 * '' Euglandina wani'' (Jacobson, 1968) Subgenus '' Cosmomenus'' H. B. Baker, 1941 * '' Euglandina cumingi'' (Beck, 1827) * '' Euglandina cylindracea'' (Phillips, 1846) ; Species brought into synonymy: * '' Euglandina exesa'' Cockerell, 1930 - fossil: synonym of ''Euglandina singleyana'' (W. G. Binney, 1892)

Description

The various species of ''Euglandina'' are similar in numerous ways. The shells are simple, oval in outline (sometimes broadly so), but occasionally more-or-less straight-sided, the lip of the aperture is also simple, without any thickening. These shells may be brown, orange, or pink in color, or some intermediate shade. Shell

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

when present usually consists of striae that mark progressive growth increments. All species are carnivores, and probably have essentially the same hunting and feeding strategies, and reproductive techniques.Cook A. (1985). "The courtship of ''Euglandina rosea'' Férrusac". ''

Journal of Molluscan Studies The ''Journal of Molluscan Studies'' is the peer-reviewed scientific journal of the Malacological Society of London, covering research in malacology.

'' 51: 211-214.

Habitat

Members of this genus can be found in many

microhabitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s. They can be found in semitropical moist

jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅ ...

, and in near-

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

. Their only requirements seem to be a relatively warm climate, and the presence of a sufficient supply of food.

Distribution

Species

Description

Habitat

References

Further reading