Abstract
Variability of the shell size characteristics was studied in the terrestrial mollusk Chondrula tridens (Müller, 1774) from highland and plain habitats in the forest–steppe of the Volga River basin. The shell height (SH) and width (SW), the height and width of the mouth, and the SH/SW ratio mostly contribute to the species variability. The SH/SW ratio reflects the species–specific constitution of the shell. Analysis of the elementary features and proportions, as well as of the mouth armament of shell structures, indicates significant heterogeneity of the species. The presence of scarps and rock outcrops in some regions studied explain large sizes of snail shells. The decrease in SH, increase in the roundness of shells, and better development of the mouth teeth in mollusks inhabiting the chalk steppe of the southern forest–steppe reflect their adaptation to more xerothermic conditions.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abakumov, E.V., Gagarina, E.I., and Isakadze, A.S., Evolutionary-genetic aspects of soil formation in the mountain part of the Zhiguli Nature Reserve, Izv. Samarsk. Nauch. Tsentra Ross. Akad. Nauk, Special Issue, 2004, part 3, pp. 57–70.
Abakumov, E.V., Gagarina, E.I., Vekhnik, V.P., Rudenko, N.A, Saksonov, S.V., and Shchutskaya, P.V., Soils of Samarskaya Luka: diversity, genesis, and protection, Izv. Samarsk. Nauch. Tsentra Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2008, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 267–287.
Baidashnikov, A.A., Morphological prerequisites for stenobionty in the Clausiliidae (Gastropoda, Pulmonata), Vestn. Zool., 2003, vol. 37, no. 6, pp. 49–63.
Baidashnikov, A.A., Intraspecific variation in some Clausiliidae species (Gastropoda, Pulmonata) under the effect of habitat conditions, Vestn. Zool., 2005, vol. 39, no. 5, pp. 37–47.
Baidashnikov, A.A., Variability of Crimean land snails of the genus Mentissa (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Clausiliidae), Vestn. Zool., 2006, vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 297–310.
Ermakov, A.M. and Snegin, E.A., Specific features of phenotypic variation in Chondrula tridens under forest–steppe landscape conditions, in Biologiya–nauka XXI veka: 6-ya Pushchinskaya shkola konferentsiya molodykh uchenykh (Biology: The Science of the 21st Century, Proc. 6th Pushchino Young Sci. Conf.), Tula: Tul’sk. Gos. Ped. Univ., 2002, vol. 2, pp. 56–57.
Gural’-Sverlova, N.V. and Gural’, R.I., New taxa of land snails of the genera Chondrula and Brephulopsis (Enidae) from Ukraine, Ruthenica, 2010, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 1–12.
Komarova, E.V., Stoiko, T.G., and Titov, S.V., Genetic and morphological population structure of the land snail Chondrula tridens in the Middle Volga region, in Bioraznoobrazie i ustoichivost’ zhivykh system (Biodiversity and Stability of Living Systems), Belgorod: ID Belgorod, 2014, pp. 35–36.
Kramarenko, S.S. and Sverlova, N.V., On intraspecific variability of Chondrula tridens (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Buliminidae) in western Ukraine and clarification of the taxonomic status of individual forms, Nauk. Zap. Derzh. Prirodozn. Muzeyu, Lviv, 2003, no. 18, pp. 93–110.
Kramarenko, S.S. and Sverlova, N.V., Interpopuation variation of conchological characters in the land snail Chondrula tridens (Buliminidae) from the northwestern Black Sea region, Nauk. Zap. Derzh. Prirodozn. Muzeyu, Lviv, 2006, no. 22, pp. 105–118.
Likharev, I.M., The Clausiliidae, Fauna SSSR. Mollyuski (The Fauna of the Soviet Union: Mollusks), vol. 3, no. 4, Moscow: Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1962.
Likharev, I.M. and Rammel’meier, E.S., Nazemnye mollyuski fauny SSSR (Terrestrial Mollusks in the Fauna of the Soviet Union), Moscow: Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1952.
Matekin, P.V., The terrestrial mollusk fauna of the Lower Volga region and its significance for an insight into the history of recent forests in the region, Zool. Zh., 1950, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 193–205.
Matekin, P.V., Adaptive variation and the process of speciation in Central Asian land snails of the family Enidae, Zool. Zh., 1959, vol. 33, no. 10, pp. 1518–1536.
Shileiko, A.A., Land snails of the superfamily Pupillina (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Geophila) in the fauna of the Soviet Union, in Fauna SSSR. Mollyuski (The Fauna of the Soviet Union: Mollusks), Leningrad: Nauka, 1984, vol. 3, no. 3.
Snegin, E.A., The population genetic structure of model land snail species under urbanized landscape consitions: the example of Chondrula tridens Müll. (Gastropoda, Pulmonata), Ekol. Genet., 2011, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 54–64.
Snegin, E.A., On the role of the founder principle in the formation of gene pools of adventive colonies: the example of Chondrula tridens (Gastropoda, Pulmonata), Zool. Zh., 2011a, vol. 90, no. 6, pp. 643–648.
Zabaluev, A.P., Serova, L.A., and Grishchenko, K.G., Basic approaches to organizing floristyic monitoring in the Khvalynskii Nationa Park, in Nauch. Tr. Nats. Parka Khvalynskii, Saratov–Khvalynsk, 2009, no. 1, p. 35.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © E.V. Komarova, Yu.V. Sachkova, N.M. Kurmaeva, T.G. Stoiko, 2015, published in Zoologicheskii Zhurnal, 2015, Vol. 94, No. 7, pp. 747–755.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Komarova, E.V., Sachkova, Y.V., Kurmaeva, N.M. et al. Investigation of Shell Characteristics in Chondrula tridents (Pulmonata, Enidae) from Highland and Plain Habitats of the Forest–Steppe of the Volga River Basin. Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci 44, 648–655 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1134/S106235901707010X
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S106235901707010X