''Indrella'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

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 ...

containing the single

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

''Indrella ampulla'', a tropical

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 ...

air-breathing

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

Ariophantidae Ariophantidae is a taxonomic family of air-breathing land snails and semi-slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Helicarionoidea (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005). Distribution ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the Western Ghats of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

.2007
''Tropical Land Snail Diversity: South and Southeast Asia''
The Natural History Museum, London. Retrieved 1 February 2009.Aravind N. A., Rajshekhar K. P. & Madhaystha N. A

. Retrieved 1 March 2009. ''I. ampulla'' is the only species in the genus ''Indrella'', however the animal color is polymorphic: the visible soft parts of the snail can be various colors, including red and pale yellow.

Shell description

The shell of this species is like that of ''

Vitrina ''Vitrina'' is genus of small air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Vitrinidae, the glass snails. Species Species with the genus ''Vitrina'' include: * '' Vitrina angelicae'' Beck, 1837 * '' Vitri ...

'', imperforate, with few

whorls A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). Whorls in nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral ...

and with a very large

aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An opt ...

. The shell consists mainly of

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...

s with only small amounts of calcium carbonate. The shell is obliquely ovate and globose in shape and very thin. Half the thickness consists of epidermis, marked throughout with plicate line of growth, crossed by faint impressed spiral lines, and on the

last whorl The body whorl is part of the morphology of the shell in those gastropod mollusks that possess a coiled shell. The term is also sometimes used in a similar way to describe the shell of a cephalopod mollusk. In gastropods In gastropods, the b ...

by shallow irregular furrows. The color of the shell is brownish olive, sometimes darker brown.

Spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

is small, convex and obtuse. The number of

is 3 and a half, rapidly increasing, the last much larger, rounded at the periphery and beneath. The aperture is very large, oblique, roundly oval, the same colour within as without, but smooth and glossy. The peristome is thin, membranaceous, columellar margin much curved inwards. The width of the shell is 38–63 mm. The height is 30 mm. The width of the aperture is 32 mm and the height of aperture is 30 mm. Blanford W. T. & Godwin-Austen H. H. 1908. ''

The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma ''The Fauna of British India'' (short title) with long titles including ''The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma'', and ''The Fauna of British India Including the Remainder of the Oriental Region'' is a series of scientific books th ...

''
Mollusca. ''Testacellidae and Zonitidae''
Taylor & Francis, London
page 48
��50.

Anatomy

The external soft parts are similar to those of ''

Ariophanta ''Ariophanta'' is a genus of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the subfamily Ariophantinae of the family Ariophantidae. MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Ariophanta Des Moulins, 1829. Accessed throug ...

'', but larger, and not fully retractile within the shell. The mucous pore is of moderate size, there is no distinct overhanging lobe or a small one. The sole of the foot is undivided and very smooth. There are no shell-lobes. The dorsal lobes are well developed, the left divided into an anterior and a posterior part by a deep sinus. Kalc-sac small, receiving the vas deferens; retractor muscle attached to long straight caecum given off at the junction of the flagellum of the male organ. The spermatheca is oval, very short, on a short stem. The amatorial organ (the dart-sac) is stout and long.

Radula

The jaw is straight, with a slight convexity on the cutting-edge and no median projection. The

radula The radula (, ; plural radulae or radulas) is an anatomical structure used by molluscs for feeding, sometimes compared to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food ...

is broad, with about 100 rows of teeth: 145 .17 .1 .17 .145; median tooth and the 17 on each side (admedians) long, broadly pointed, straight-sided, lateral cusps indistinct; laterals curved, aculeate, outer laterals bicuspid.

Color of the soft parts

"The animal, as represented in a drawing for which I am indebted to Sir Walter Elliot, is greenish yellow, but according to Col. Beddome it is black. It probably varies." The color of soft parts has great color diversity, (color polymorphism) including white, cream, pale yellow, orange, red and black.

Distribution

This species occurs in the Western Ghats of

, specifically on the wetter western slopes of the Wynaad, Nilgiri, and

Anaimalai Hills The Anamala or Anaimalai, also known as the Elephant Mountains, are a range of mountains in the southern Western Ghats of central Kerala ( Idukki district, Ernakulam district, Palakkad district, Thrissur district) and span the border of wes ...

, at moderate elevations (3000 ft).

Habitat

This species lives in wet woodland, i.e.

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equatori ...

Ecology

Indrella ampulla feeding on large fungi in Anaimalai hills JEG9975

''I. ampulla'' is largely terrestrial seen on the forest floor occasionally see crossing the forest roads. Although it is a terrestrial snail also known to be partly arboreal. This species is reported to be submerged underwater for about 30 minutes while upper tentacles occasionally breaking the water surfacedoi:10.12657/folmal.030.006, Leyland, A., Rao, N. M., Shilpe, R., and Menzies, R. K. (2022). First record of aquatic behaviour in an endemic terrestrial snail ''Indrella ampulla'' (Benson, 1850) (Gastropoda: Helicarionoidea: Ariophantidae). ''Folia Malacologica'', 1(30), pp.60-63. https://doi.org/10.12657/folmal.030.006 Colonel Richard Henry Beddome of the British Indian forest service found this snail feeding on large fungi. Adventurer [Indrajith] of Gurugram found this snail crossing muddy way in search of fungi.

References

The article incorporates public domain text from the reference.

External links

Images:
Photo of individual with pale yellow skin

Pale yellow individual, contracted

Two individuals, one red and one almost white

Two orange individuals

two photos
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q21216772, from2=Q6027109 Ariophantidae Gastropods described in 1850 Endemic fauna of the Western Ghats Fauna of Kerala Fauna of Tamil Nadu Taxa named by William Henry Benson Monotypic gastropod genera