A team of scientists from India and Great Britain discovered a kind of snail snail from Konkan Maharashtra and named it “Theobaldius Konanensis”.
In the article called “New kind of snail snail Cyclophorid (Caenogastropoda: Cyclophoridae) from the coastal regions of Maharaštra, India, published on March 11, 2025, in the international scientific journal Moluscan Research, said this line.
The main authors of the contribution are Amrut Bhosale from the Zoology, Dahiwadi College, Dahiwadi in the Satara district in Maharaštře; Tejas Thacceray and Akshay Khandekar from the Thackery Wildlife Foundation, Mumbai; Omkar Yadav from Zoology Department, AMDAR SHASHIKANT Shinde Mahavidyalay, Medha in Satara; Tom S. White from the Natural History Museum, London, Great Britain and Dinarzarde C. Rahe from the Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka and Scientific Associate at the Natural History Museum, London UK, UK
Scientists have said that snails of land are excellent bioindicators and were susceptible to climatic fluctuations. Nowadays, anthropogenic activities have been increased in this area, leading to the extinction of snails with uneven distribution. The exploration of the species would contribute to the knowledge of the species of snails in Konkan and Western Ghats.
Remains unexplored
When selecting the name of the species, Mr. Omkar Yadav said: “Given the layout of the new species in Konkan, we gave the name Theobaldius Konanensis for a new species. Most Konkan and North Western Ghats remain explored and our survey will continue to survey to continue the survey. survey in the survey.
Mr. Tejas Thackeray said that many kinds of snails found in Konkan forests were endemic. “Theobaldius concanensis is a species that exists only in specific areas of Konkan. This makes it an invaluable part of Konan’s natural heritage. Therefore, it is essential for its preservation.”
Speaking of research, Mr. Amrut Bhosale said that the survey was carried out in 2021 in several places in the Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri and Raigad districts. These places were in the lower east forests of northern western Ghats and a forest patch in the coastal mahara at an altitude of 80 to 240 meters above sea level. Samples of snails were found in the Temple of Dev Gireshwar in Ansure, Ratnagiri; Uttamrao Patil Biodiversity Garden in Chikhali, Guhagar Chiplun Road in Ratnagiri; Temple Kesharnath Vishnu in Shedwai, Ratnagiri; and Phansad Sanctury in Raigad.
The species was found mainly in tropical evergreen and semi -black forests. Live specimens were found on the forest bottom in leaf litters and on wet fallen branches from June to September and only shells were observed in other seasons, Bhosale said.
This species is active during the day and night, and the individuals are easily found in the afternoon in well -scored places under the forest canopy. This species cooperates with other terrestrial streams.
The Shells of the new species was compared with the paintings of Theobaldius types from the Mullaska Museum collection in London, the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, and Tristis samples gathered from Dajipur. The type of material of the new species was stored in the Museum and Research Collection in the National Center for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru; Museum of Natural History Bombay (BNHS), Bombai; and in the zoological survey of India, the Western Regional Center in Pune.
Ground snails are excellent bioindicators and are susceptible to climatic fluctuations. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
According to the research article, the new species differs from all the other Indian species Theobaldius, which have a deep triangular apertural notch exceeding a prominent, raised fold or wing and operating with the edges of whorl strongly raised and decorated with short spines. This species also tends to have an increased tower than other theobaldius.
In appearance, the adult snail shell is strong, conoidal depressing, widely picked by regularly growing beliefs, Corneous the yellow color Qin with brown stripes, the barbed periostrac that wear in the patches, explained the paper.
Mr. Bhosale said that in India a total of 1,138 species of snails were recorded from 167 genera and 39 families. Theobaldius currently numbers 20 species and has been distributed in Indonesia in India (nine species), Sri Lanka (11 species) and Sumatra island (one species). Among the Indian species are two: T. Nivicola and T. Orites known only from northeast India.
Based on the available data, six of the seven remaining Indian species, T. Anguis, T. Deplanatus, T. Maculosus, T. Ravidus, T. Stostoma and T. Tristis, are endemic for Western Ghats; The seventh species, T. Annulatus, occurs both in Sri Lanka and the western ghats.
According to studies conducted in 2007 and 2014, most Western Ghats were considered to be limited to the middle and southern western Ghats, but T.? Tristis was recently recorded from Radhanagari and Amba in Mahashtra, northern western Ghats.
Unavailability
For the reasons why the snails are now seen in so many years, Mr. Bhosale said that very few taxonists are working on ground snails and this group is neglected because of the unavailability of literature; Most of the species descriptions are in Latin and identification problems, etc. For these reasons, no one shows interest in the snail. “Very few studies have been conducted on ground snails in the Konkan region. The new species described from the unexplored Konkan area emphasizes the strong need for a deep study of ground snails in the region. Further research is essential to understand the task of this newly identified species in the local ecosystem,” he explained.
In general, snails are visible in the rainy season. Most of the operational snails have a separate sex and most of the snail of land are hermaphrodite (with both sexes). Land snail and slug only behave in the rainy season. Cross fertilization and self -fermentation are reproduced. Before mating snails show the behavior of courtship by piercing the arrow into the body of the partner. The mating lasts two to several hours. They connect 2 to 3 times to increase the fertility of eggs. After mating, the number of eggs varies from type to type and lays its eggs in cracks and slots, in the soil or under the litter of leaves. The eggs hatch after 2 weeks to 1 month. The life of snails and slugs is about 2 to 7 years.
Published – April 6, 2025 9:47
