Species diversity of terrestrial snails (Gastropoda: Pulmonata) in the west of Isfahan province

Subject Areas : Plant Pests

Elaheh Fazilinejad ¹ , Hamid Belgheis zadeh ²

1 - Former MSc. Student, Department of Animal Biosystematics, Faculty of Advanced Science and Technology, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2 - Animal Biosystematics, Islamic Azad University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Received: 2021-08-25 Accepted : 2021-08-25 Published : 2020-08-22

Keywords: Species Diversity, Isfahan Province, mollusks, terrestrial snails,

Abstract :

Mollusca: Gastropoda (Mollusca: Gastropoda) are the main groups of invertebrates in various ecosystems that are known as pests of vegetable and summer crops as well as the intermediate host of a number of parasitic protozoan and worms. They are important in various fields of agriculture, medicine and veterinary medicine. Since there is no report on the species diversity of terrestrial snails in the west of Isfahan province, this study was conducted to study the biodiversity of terrestrial snails in the area and search for important species from different dimensions. For this purpose, the west of Isfahan province was divided into 5 regions (Faridan, Fereydoun Shahr, Chdegan, Khansar and Golpayegan). Then the samples collected from these stations were systematically and morphologically examined using valid identification keys up to the species level. The effect of environmental factors such as temperature and relative humidity on the distribution of species was also determined. According to the results, it was found that the optimum temperature for the collected snails was 19-15°C and the best relative humidity was 25-45%. Finally, based on the results, six species of four genera under two families were identified.