''Orculella'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of air-breathing land snails,

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 gastropod

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

Orculidae Orculidae is a family of mostly minute, air-breathing, land snails; terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Pupilloidea Pupilloidea is a superfamily of small and very small air-breathing land snails, terrestrial gastr ...

. The genus ''Orculella'' occurs in the whole

Mediterranean region In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin (; also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea) is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and wa ...

. The richest areas in terms of species are

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

, the Aegean Islands (mainly

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

) and

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

(

Cyrenaica Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika ( ar, برقة, Barqah, grc-koi, Κυρηναϊκή ��παρχίαKurēnaïkḗ parkhíā}, after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between ...

). A few species inhabit Southern Spain ( ''O. bulgarica''), Sicily ( ''O. templorum'') and northeastern Africa ( ''O. tingitana''). Species in the genera ''

Schileykula ''Schileykula'' is a genus of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Orculidae. All of the species and subspecies in this genus inhabit Turkey, with the exception of the subspecies ''Schileykula scyp ...

'' and ''Orculella'' are indistinguishable based on shell characters only. They differ however in the genitalia, primarily in the presence (''Orculella'') or absence (''

'') of a penial appendix.

Species and subspecies

Species and subspecies in the genus ''Orculella'' include: * '' Orculella astirakiensis'' Gittenberger & Hausdorf 2004 * '' Orculella brandti'' (Zilch 1960)Zilch, A. (1960). "Neue Landschnecken aus der Cyrenaica". ''Archiv für Molluskenkunde'' 89: 57-60. * ''

Orculella bulgarica bulgarica ''Orculella'' is a genus of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Orculidae. The genus ''Orculella'' occurs in the whole Mediterranean region. The richest areas in terms of species are Turkey and th ...

'' (P. Hesse 1915) * '' Orculella bulgarica lamellata'' Hausdorf, 1996Hausdorf, B. (1996). "Die Orculidae Asiens (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora)". ''Archiv für Molluskenkunde'' 125 (1/2): 1-86. * '' Orculella caabensis'' (Brandt 1956) * '' Orculella connollyi'' (Brandt 1956) * '' Orculella creantirudis'' Gittenberger & Hausdorf 2004 * '' Orculella creticostata'' Gittenberger & Hausdorf 2004 * '' Orculella cretilasithi'' Gittenberger & Hausdorf 2004 * '' Orculella cretimaxima'' Gittenberger & Hausdorf 2004 * '' Orculella cretiminuta'' Gittenberger & Hausdorf 2004 * '' Orculella cretioreina'' Gittenberger & Hausdorf 2004 * '' Orculella critica'' (L. Pfeiffer 1856) * '' Orculella diensis'' Gittenberger & Hausdorf 2004 * '' Orculella driana'' (Klatenbach 1943) * '' Orculella elongata'' (Klatenbach 1943) * '' Orculella exaggerata'' (Fuchs & Käufel 1936) * '' Orculella farzughana'' (Brandt 1956) * '' Orculella fodela'' Gittenberger & Hausdorf 2004 * '' Orculella franciscoi'' Gittenberger & Hausdorf 2004Gittenberger & Hausdorf (2004). "The Orculella species of the South Aegean island arc, a neglected radiation (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Orculidae)". ''Basteria'' 68: 93-124. * '' Orculella garzanensis'' Schütt, 1996 * '' Orculella gregoryi'' (Brandt 1956) * '' Orculella? heterostropha commagenensis'' (Neubert, 1988) * '' Orculella? heterostropha heterostropha'' (O. Boettger, 1905) * '' Orculella ignorata'' Hausdorf, 1996 * '' Orculella kaltenbachi'' (Brandt 1956) * '' Orculella mayi'' (Brandt 1956) * '' Orculella menkhorsti menkhorsti'' Hausdorf, 1996 * '' Orculella menkhorsti sinistrorsa'' Hausdorf, 1996 * '' Orculella mesopotamica mesopotamica'' (Mousson, 1874) * '' Orculella mesopotamica riedeli'' Hausdorf, 1996 * '' Orculella multidentata'' (Klatenbach 1943) * '' Orculella scalaris'' Gittenberger & Hausdorf 2004 * '' Orculella orientalis'' (L. Pfeiffer 1861) * '' Orculella pabsti'' (Brandt 1956) * '' Orculella? palatalis'' (Pilsbry 1922) * '' Orculella pfeiferi'' Hausdorf 1996 * '' Orculella regimaensis'' (Brandt 1956) * '' Orculella ruderalis urartaeica'' Hausdorf 1996 * ''

Orculella sirianocoriensis libanotica ''Orculella'' is a genus of air-breathing land snails, Terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Orculidae. The genus ''Orculella'' occurs in the whole Mediterranean region. The richest areas in terms of specie ...

'' (Tristram 1865) * '' Orculella sirianocoriensis sirianocoriensis'' (Mousson 1854) * '' Orculella striata'' (Kaltenbach 1943) * '' Orculella templorum templorum'' (Benoit 1862) * '' Orculella templorum tripolitana'' (Kaltenbach 1943) * '' Orculella tingitana'' (Pallary 1918) * '' Orculella tomlini'' (Connolly 1942)Brandt, A. (1956). "Zur Orculidenfauna der Cyrenaica". ''Archiv für Molluskenkunde'' 85 1/3: 69-82.

References

Orculidae {{Orculidae-stub