''Zonites'' is a genus of mostly small, 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 ...

s, terrestrial

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 ...

mollusks in the family

Zonitidae Zonitidae, common name the true glass snails, are a family of mostly rather small, air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Zonitoidea. Zonitidae is the only family in the superfamily Zonitoidea. Th ...

. The genus Zonites, which includes 26 extant species, is distributed in the northeastern Mediterranean area and exhibits significant diversity and endemism.

Description

The shell of species in this genus is more or less transparent, subdepressed and contains an umbilicus. The aperture is semilunar and usually lacks teeth. The outer lip is thin and sharp. The animal is elongate and is able to retract completely within its shell. It has a more or less developed

caudal mucous pit The caudal mucous pit, or caudal mucous horn, is an anatomical structure on the tail end of the foot of various land snails and slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks. The function of this pit is the resorption of mucus when the gast ...

. The mantle lobes are small and not reflected on to the shell. The genital orifice is somewhat distant from the right tentacle. The jaw is marked by a median rostrum. The lateral teeth of 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 ...

are bicuspidate, while the marginal teeth are sharp and narrowly unicuspidate.

Species

Species within the genus ''Zonites'' include:"Species in genus ''Zonites''"
AnimalBase, accessed 22 June 2010. * ''

Zonites algirus ''Zonites algirus'' is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropodmollusk in the family Zonitidae. Distribution This species occurs in Turkey,Örstan A. (2003). "The rediscovery of ''Zonites algirus'' in İstanbul, T ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) - type species * ''

Zonites anaphiensis ''Zonites anaphiensis'' is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Zonitidae. The species is endemic to the island of Anafi in Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Helle ...

'' Riedel & Mylonas, 1981 * ''

Zonites astakidae ''Zonites'' is a genus of mostly small, air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Zonitidae. The genus Zonites, which includes 26 extant species, is distributed in the northeastern Mediterranean area and e ...

'' Riedel, 1985 * ''

Zonites caricus ''Zonites'' is a genus of mostly small, air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Zonitidae. The genus Zonites, which includes 26 extant species, is distributed in the northeastern Mediterranean area and e ...

'' (Roth, 1839) * '' Zonites casius'' Martens, 1889 * '' Zonites chloroticus'' (Pfeiffer, 1851) * ''

Zonites embolium ''Zonites embolium'' is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Zonitidae. The subspecies ''Zonites embolium elevatus'' Riedel & Mylonas, 1997, that was endemic to Dodecanese Islands, is c ...

'' Fuchs & Käufel, 1936 ** ''Zonites embolium elevatus'' Riedel & Mylonas, 1997 - extinct * '' Zonites euboeicus'' Kobelt, 1878 * '' Zonites festae'' Pollonera, 1916 * '' Zonites graecus'' Kobelt, 1876 * '' Zonites humilis'' Riedel, 1982 * '' Zonites invitus'' Riedel & Mylonas, 1995 * '' Zonites kobelti'' Kobelt, 1898 * '' Zonites labiosus'' Westerlund, 1893 * '' Zonites messenicus'' Zilch, 1965 * '' Zonites nautarum'' Riedel & Mylonas, 1995 * '' Zonites nikariae'' Pfeffer, 1930 * '' Zonites nisyrius'' Riedel & Mylonas, 1997 * ''

Zonites oertzeni ''Zonites'' is a genus of mostly small, air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Zonitidae. The genus Zonites, which includes 26 extant species, is distributed in the northeastern Mediterranean area and ...

'' Martens, 1889 * '' Zonites osmanicus'' Riedel, 1987 * '' Zonites parnonensis'' Riedel, 1985 * '' Zonites pergranulatus'' Kobelt, 1878 * '' Zonites rhodius'' Martens, 1889 * '' Zonites santoriniensis'' Riedel & Norris, 1987 - extinctFontaine B., Bouchet P., Van Achterberg K., Alonso-Zarazaga M. A., Araujo R. et al. (2007). "The European union’s 2010 target: Putting rare species in focus." ''Biological Conservation'' 139: 167-185. Table 2 on the page 173.
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* ''

Zonites sariae ''Zonites sariae'' is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Zonitidae.MolluscaBase eds. (2023). MolluscaBase. Zonites sariae A. Riedel, 1985. Accessed through: World R ...

'' Riedel, 1985 * '' Zonites siphnicus'' Fuchs & Käufel, 1936 - extinct * '' Zonites smyrnensis'' (Roth, 1839)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q8073997 Gastropod genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot