Helix (gastropod) - Species

Species

Subgenera and species within the genus Helix include today:

Subgenus Helix

  • Helix albescens Rossmaessler, 1839
  • Helix lucorum Linnaeus, 1758
  • Helix pomatia Linnaeus, 1758 - Burgundy Snail, Roman Snail, Edible Snail
  • Helix philibinensis Rossmässler, 1839

Subgenus Pelasga

  • Helix pomacella Mousson, 1854
  • Helix figulina Rossmässler, 1839

Subgenus Cornu

  • Helix aspersa Müller, 1774 - brown garden snail or common garden snail also known as Cantareus aspersus and Cornu aspersus

Subgenus ?

  • Helix aperta Born, 1778
  • Helix engaddensis Bourguinat, 1852 - Levantine field snail
  • Helix buchi Dubois de Montpéreux, 1839 (largest species of the genus Helix, a synonym is Helix goderdziana Mumladze, Tarkhnishvili & Pokryszko, 2008).
  • Helix godetiana
  • † Helix insignis - late Miocene
  • Helix lutescens Rossmässler, 1837
  • Helix mazzullii - also known as Cantareus mazzullii
  • Helix melanostoma Draparnaud, 1801
  • Helix obruta Morelet, 1860
  • Helix texta Mousson, 1861
Species brought into synonymy
  • Helix corallina Chemnitz, 1795: synonym of Scalenostoma subulatum (Broderip, 1832)
  • Helix coriacea Pallas, 1788: synonym of Velutina coriacea (Pallas, 1788)
  • Helix cyclostomoides Pfeiffer, 1840: synonym of Vitrinella cyclostomoides (Pfeiffer, 1840)
  • Helix decussata Montagu, 1803: synonym of Rissoina decussata (Montagu, 1803)
  • Helix eburnea Mühlfeld, 1824: synonym of Melanella eburnea (Mühlfeld, 1824)
  • Helix flavocincta Mühlfeld, 1829: synonym of Eulima glabra (da Costa, 1778)
  • Helix haliotoidea Linnaeus, 1758: synonym of Sinum haliotoideum (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Helix janthina Linnaeus, 1758: synonym of Janthina janthina (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Helix janthina Linnaeus, 1764: synonym of Janthina prolongata Blainville, 1822: synonym of Janthina globosa Swainson, 1822
  • Helix littorina delle Chiaje, 1828: synonym of Paludinella littorina (delle Chiaje, 1828): synonym of Melarhaphe neritoides (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Helix margarita Montagu, 1808: synonym of Margarites helicinus (Phipps, 1774)
  • Helix mespillum Mühlfeld, 1824: synonym of Echinolittorina mespillum (Mühlfeld, 1824)
  • Helix neritoidea Linnaeus, 1758: synonym of Sinum neritoideum (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Helix nutans Mühlfeld, 1824: synonym of Melanella nutans (Mühlfeld, 1824)
  • Helix paradoxa Born, 1778: synonym of Chrysostoma paradoxum (Born, 1778)
  • Helix petraea Montagu, 1803: synonym of Melarhaphe neritoides (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Helix scabra Linnaeus, 1758: synonym of Littoraria scabra (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Helix subcarinata Montagu, 1803: synonym of Tornus subcarinatus (Montagu, 1803)
  • Helix sulphurea C. B. Adams, 1849: synonym of Tonna pennata (Mörch, 1853)

Some taxonomists remove the species "Helix aperta", "Helix aspersa", and "Helix mazzullii" from the genus Helix and place them in their own monotypic genera as Cantareus apertus, Cornu aspersum and Cantareus mazzullii.

At the beginning in the mid-1700s the generic name Helix had been used for almost all terrestrial gastropods, later this was restricted to species with helicoid habitus, including zonitids and other groups. In the course of the 1800s more groups were removed, but prior to 1900 several thousand helicid and hygromiid species of Europe and abroad had still been classified in the genus Helix. It was only in the early 1900s that the genus was split up into many separate genera, leaving only some 30 species closely related to its type species Helix pomatia in the genus Helix.

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