Merdigera obscura - the "Camouflage Snail"

Lesser Bulin (Merdigera obscura). [RN]

Merdigera obscura
Picture: Helmut Nisters.

Systematics:

Order: Stylommatophora A. Schmidt 1855
Suborder: Orthurethra Pilsbry 1900
Family: Buliminidae Clessin 1879
Genus: Merdigera Held 1838
Species: obscura (O. F. Müller 1774)

The lesser Bulin is the smaller relative of the mountain Bulin (Ena montana).

From the North-East of Africa it is distributed over nearly all of Europe as far North as the South of Finland. The snail lives in deciduous forest on trees and under leaves, but also occurs outside of forests. Other than its larger relative it is not in need of humidity to an extent like its larger relative, the mountain Bulin.

In contrary to that, however, this species in 1838 received a rather unflattering scientific name, the genus Merdigera, literally meaning as much as "excrement bearer". Its species name, obscura, means "hidden" or "obscure".

The reason is, that the lesser Bulin hides its shell under a camouflage of its own excrements and earth. If one finds a lesser Bulin in nature, such as the specimen in the picture on the left in a wall crevice, it is hard to recognise, little connecting it to the clean shells one knows from shell collections.

Systematics according to: German Malacozoological Society - Nomenclature list http://www.mollbase.de/list/ (State: 08.06.2006).

Further Information:

Snails as clever builders - Active Camouflage in a snail. Article by Christoph Allgaier (Tübingen University) on Napaeus barquini from Gomera (Canary Islands).