Kingdom Animalia Family Orthalicidae Genus Liguus Phylum Mollusca Rank Species | Superfamily Orthalicoidea Subfamily Orthalicinae Scientific name Liguus virgineus Higher classification Liguus | |
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Similar Liguus, Orthalicidae, Polymita, Liguus fasciatus, Polymita picta | ||
Liguus virgineus, also known as the Candy Cane Snail or the "'Virgin Liguus'", is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Orthalicidae.
Contents
Liguus virgineus is a type species of the genus Liguus.
Distribution
This species is native to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), east of Cuba
However, over the past 25 years there have been at least three separate reports of living specimens being found in the Florida Keys (Key Largo, Long Key, Key West).
In one such report circa 1989, a U.S. Air Force Sergeant reported finding a living pair on a banana tree in his back yard while living in U. S. Government housing at Sigsbee Park in Key West. The two shells were positively identified as Liguus virgineus, but their live collection in Key West could not be verified.
Habitat
These sea snails live on trees and feed on moss, fungi and microscopic algae covering the bark.
Description
Shells of Liguus virgineus can reach a length of 30–60 millimetres (1.2–2.4 in). These small shells are oval-conical shaped, thin but robust. Shell surface is mooth and shiny. The aperture is semicircular. The background color of the shell is white or creamy-white, with thin bright spiral stripes of orange, purple and yellow. The aperture may be dark-grey or white-purple with scarlet lips.
Human culture
Shells of these land snails for years have been over-harvested for the shell craft trade. The destruction of the forestal habitat and the commercial overcollecting could lead to the extinction of this species. Now harvesting and selling these shells is forbidden by the law.