• Source: Helix lucorum

Helix lucorum is a species of large, edible, air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Helicidae, the typical snails.




Description



Adult snails weigh about 20–25 g.
The width of the shell is 35–60 mm. The height of the shell is 25–45 mm.
This species of snail makes and uses love darts.




Distribution


The native distribution is the Caucasus, Anatolia and, arguably, the Balkans. It has also invaded many other regions since ancient times, likely assisted by humans.
Eastern native range with main genetic diversity of the species:

Anatolia (Turkey)
Georgia
Azerbaijan
Armenia
Northern Iran
Balkans (probably native):

Albania
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Greece
Macedonia
Serbia
Turkey
Other countries:

Israel
Syria
Russia - could be native in Caucasus, invasive in some other regions
Italy - probably invasive
Hungary - probably invasive
Romania - probably invasive
Ukraine - invasive, in Crimea ("Helix taurica Krynicki, 1833") at least since early 19 century, probably much longer, these populations originated from Anatolia; other colonies of a different lineage also appear since 2000s in mainland part of Southern Ukraine and in Crimea as well
Czech Republic - invasive, since 2009, as of 2011 the only locality is Prague-Žižkov
Slovakia - invasive, since 2013, as of 2014 the only locality is in Bratislava
France - invasive
Great Britain - invasive, since 2009, at Wimbledon




Ecology


The diameter of the egg is 4.4 mm. Juvenile snails that are two to three months old weigh 0.5–0.9 g.




Human use


Measurement of DNA damage in H. lucorum collected from environmental sites can be used for evaluating soil pollution at these sites. DNA damage in H. lucorum haemocytes and digestive gland cells is determined by the comet assay.
Helix lucorum is used in cuisine as escargots.




References






External links



https://web.archive.org/web/20120529085410/http://szmn.sbras.ru/picts/Mollusca/Helix_lucorum.htm
TODO SOBRE CARACOLES

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Siput
• Helix lucorum
• Helix (gastropod)
• List of edible molluscs
• Land snail
• Snails as food
• Snail
• Helix straminea
• Giant Pacific octopus
• Heliciculture
• Love dart