''Polymita picta'', also known as the Cuban painted snail, or the oriente tree snail, is a

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 ...

of large, 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 ...

, a

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

Helminthoglyptidae The Helminthoglyptinae are a subfamily of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks within the family Xanthonychidae. MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Helminthoglyptinae Pilsbry, 1939. Accessed through: World Regi ...

. It is the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

of the genus ''Polymita'', and is endemic to Eastern Cuba.

Subspecies and varietas

Subspecies and varietas within this species include: *''Polymita picta picta'' **''Polymita picta picta var. muscata'' Torre 1950 **''Polymita picta picta var. multifasciata'' Torre 1950 **''Polymita picta picta var. dimidiata'' Torre 1950 **''Polymita picta picta var. obscurata'' Torre 1950 *''Polymita picta iolimbata Torre 1950 **''Polymita picta iolimbata var. iofasciata'' Torre 1950 **''Polymita picta iolimbata var. iosaturata'' Torre 1950 **''Polymita picta iolimbata var. iodimidiata'' Torre 1950 *''Polymita picta fuscolimbata'' Torre 1950 **''Polymita picta fuscolimbata'' Torre 1950 **''Polymita picta fuscolimbata var. elevata'' Torre 1950 *''Polymita picta nigrolimbata'' Torre 1950 **''Polymita picta nigrolimbata var. fulminata'' Torre 1950 **''Polymita picta nigrolimbata var. nigrofasciata'' Torre 1950 *''Polymita picta roseolimbata'' Torre 1950 **''Polymita picta roseolimbata forma minor'' Torre 1950 **''Polymita picta roseolimbata var. virgata'' Torre 1950 **''Polymita picta roseolimbata var. albolimbata ''Torre 1950

Distribution and habitat

This snail 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 ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

.They spread from the ocean to the sea of the northeastern coast. AMNH(2017).Animals of Cuba:Painted snails.Publisher.P.1 These arboreal molluscs live mainly in coastal habitats in the subtropical forest, with a preference for certain tree species including ''

Chrysobalanus icaco ''Chrysobalanus'' is a genus of evergreen perennial shrubs to small trees, described as a genus by Linnaeus in 1753. It is native to sub-tropical and tropical regions of Africa, Latin America, and Florida. ''Chrysobalanus'' attains a maximum hei ...

'', ''

Metopium toxifera ''Metopium'' or poisonwood is a genus of flowering plants in the sumac family, Anacardiaceae. They are dioecious trees with poisonous sap that can induce contact dermatitis. Taxonomy Species , ''Plants of the World online'' has 4 accepted spec ...

'', ''

Metopium brownei ''Metopium brownei'' (also known as chechem, chechen, or black poisonwood) is a species of plant in the family Anacardiaceae. Distribution and habitat It is found in Hispaniola (the Dominican Republic and Haiti), Cuba, Jamaica, northern Guatemal ...

'', ''

Bursera simaruba ''Bursera simaruba'', commonly known as gumbo-limbo, copperwood, chaca, West Indian birch, naked Indian, and turpentine tree, is a tree species in the family Burseraceae, native to the Neotropics, from South Florida to Mexico and the Caribbean ...

'' and ''

Coccoloba retusa ''Coccoloba'' is a genus of about 120–150 species of flowering plants in the family Polygonaceae, which is native to the Neotropics. There is no overall English name for the genus, although many of the individual species have widely used common ...

''.

Description

Shells of ''Polymita picta'' can reach a length of about . These large shells are shiny and very brightly colored. Normally they show a bright yellow color with a white stripe, but the species is well known for its colourful shell polymorphism, with numerous color varieties. Shell colors vary (polymorphism ) depending on the diet of the snail. Some researchers suspect it is a defense mechanism to evade predators by confusing them. These shells are sought after by poachers and used to make jewelry and trinkets. As a result, the species has become endangered. It is a protected species since 1943 by the Cuban legislation which prohibits the export except for scientific reasons.

Biology

''Polymita picta'' mainly feeds on lichen, moss and on fungal biofilms present on bark and leaves. The life cycle lasts about 15 months, with breeding time during the wet season (September- October). The snails become dormant in the dry season (December- beginning of May). Like most air-breathing land snails, ''Polymita picta'' has female and male reproductive organs (

hermaphroditic In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have separ ...

), it is unable to self-fertilize. Moreover similarly to other gastropods in the superfamily

Helicoidea Helicoidea is a taxonomic superfamily of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the clade Stylommatophora. Taxonomy 2005 taxonomy There are 19 families within the superfamily Helicoidea according to the ta ...

, this species uses

love darts A love dart (also known as a gypsobelum, shooting darts, or just as darts) is a sharp, calcareous or chitinous dart which some hermaphroditic land snails and slugs create. Love darts are both formed and stored internally in a dart sac. The ...

as part of its mating behavior. Mating can be divided into three stages: courtship, copulation and post-copulation. This can appear as wiping, running, and stabbing known as dart apparatus. During the courtship these snails spear the partner with a calcareous dart.Bernardo Reyes-Tur1, John A. Allen, Nilia Cuellar-Araujo, Norvis Hernández, Monica Lodi, Abelardo A. Méndez-Hernández and Joris M. Koen
Mating behaviour, dart shape and spermatophore morphology of the Cuban tree snail Polymita picta (Born, 1780)
/ref>Joris M. Koene and Hinrich Schulenbur
Shooting darts: co-evolution and counter-adaptation in hermaphroditic snails
in BMC Evolutionary Biology, 2005, 5:25, DOI:10.1186/1471-2148-5-25.

References

Bibliography

* Fernandez, J.M., J.R. Martinez,1987. Polymita. Ministerio de Cultura, Editorial Cientifico-Tecnica, Habana, Cuba * Parkinson, B., J. Hemmen and K. Groh, 1987. Tropical Landshells of the World. Weisbaden. *Emilio Jorge Power. «Polymita picta». The Polymita Home Page. *González Guillén A. (2014). "Polymita, the most beautiful land snail of the world". Carlos M. Estevez & Associates, Miami, 359 pp., . *Torre1950, "El Genero Polymita", Memorias de la Sociedad Cubana de Historia Natural "Felipe Poey", 20(1): 1-20, 11 color plates. {{Taxonbar, from=Q3907755 Helminthoglyptidae Endemic fauna of Cuba Gastropods described in 1778 Taxa named by Ignaz von Born