''Omalonyx'' 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 ...

of 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 ...

mollusc 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 esti ...

s in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Succineidae Succineidae are a family of small to medium-sized, air-breathing land snails (and slugs), terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Succineoidea.MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Succineidae Beck, 1837. Accessed thr ...

, the amber snails. These snails are amphibious, living very close to water and moving around both on

emergent plant Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments (saltwater or freshwater). They are also referred to as hydrophytes or macrophytes to distinguish them from algae and other microphytes. A macrophyte is a plant that g ...

s and also on submerged aquatic plants.

Distribution

Species of the genus ''Omalonyx'' occur in the Caribbean Islands, and they are also amply distributed throughout South America.

Species

Species within the genus ''Omalonyx'' include: * '' Omalonyx brasiliensis'' (Simroth, 1896) * '' Omalonyx convexus'' (Heynemann, 1868) * '' Omalonyx matheronii'' (Potiez & Michaud, 1835) or '' Omalonyx matheroni'' (Potiez & Michaud, 1838)Robinson D. G., Hovestadt A., Fields A. & Breure A. S. H. (2009). "The land Mollusca of Dominica (Lesser Antilles), with notes on some enigmatic or rare species". ''

Zoologische Mededelingen ''Zoologische Mededelingen'' was a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal publishing papers and monographs on animal systematics. The publisher was the National Museum of Natural History Naturalis in the Netherlands. The first issue appeared ...

'' 83 http://www.zoologischemededelingen.nl/83/nr03/a13 * ''

Omalonyx pattersonae ''Omalonyx'' is a genus of air-breathing land snails, Terrestrial animal, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the family (biology), family Succineidae, the amber snails. These snails are amphibious, living very close to water and moving a ...

'' Tillier, 1981 * ''

Omalonyx unguis ''Omalonyx unguis'' is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Succineidae, the amber snails. Distribution The distribution of ''Omalonyx unguis'' includes: * Argentina *Brazil *Paraguay ...

'' (d'Orbigny, 1837) * '' Omalonyx geayi'' Tillier, 1980

Description

''Omalonyx'' includes slugs with a reduced, flat and fingernail-like

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard ou ...

and a pattern of yellow coloring with two black longitudinal stripes and blackish stains throughout the entire body, including the

mantle A mantle is a piece of clothing, a type of cloak. Several other meanings are derived from that. Mantle may refer to: *Mantle (clothing), a cloak-like garment worn mainly by women as fashionable outerwear **Mantle (vesture), an Eastern Orthodox ve ...

. The mantle covers the visceral mass and the edge of the shell. Various authors reported various extensions of the mantle: the mantle covers the shell in different extents. The coloring was used to describe and characterize ''Omalonyx'' species, but Arruda & Thomé (2011) reported wide variability in color of ''Omalonyx convexus''.

Ecology

The species of ''Omalonyx'' are reported on macrophytes or emergent vegetation in the banks of

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...

s, river

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

s, and

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

s. '' Omalonyx convexus'' lives in both clean and polluted freshwater environments, as well as on natural and artificial substrates. These snails are

herbivorous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpart ...

, feeding on living plant tissues. Non-vegetal food items were also found in ''Omalonyx convexus''.

References

This article incorporates CC-BY-3.0 text from the referenceArruda J. O. & Thomé J. W. (2011). "Biological aspects of ''Omalonyx convexus'' (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Succineidae) from the Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil". '' Revista Biotemas'' 24(4): 95-101. doi:10.5007/2175-7925.2011v24n4p95

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7089513 Succineidae