Cantareus apertus ( Born, 1778 )

Blacket, Mark J., Shea, Michael, Semeraro, Linda & Malipatil, Mallik B., 2016, Introduced Helicidae Garden Snails in Australia: Morphological and Molecular Diagnostics, Species Distributions and Systematics, Records of the Australian Museum 68 (3), pp. 99-116 : 113

Cantareus apertus ( Born, 1778)

Objective synonym— Helix aperta .

Common names—Green Garden Snail, Green Snail, Singing Snail.

Material examined. Victoria: Cobram VAITC 3032–3036, 3103, 3104, VAIC ×10; Cobram South VAITC 3014, 3018, 3019, 3020, 3021, 3066–3070, VAIC ×9. Western Australia: AM C135546 Wanneroo, north of Perth; VAICNeerabup ×2.

Diagnosis. Shell: medium (up to 3 cm), very thin, low spire, globose, 3–4 whorls increasing rapidly with bodywhorl greatly flared, aperture extremely large and rounded, umbilicus closed, shell lip thickened white internally only and not reflected out in adults, rounded whorls in both adults and juveniles. Shell colour: olive green to brown with no banding pattern. During aestivation: possesses convex white thick epiphragm, extending from edge of aperture. Live animal: can make a distinctive noise when disturbed. Soft body: usually cream to dark-grey coloured, with dark dorsal stripes. Adults: identified by size and degree of thickening of the shell-lip.

Distribution in Australia. Present in WA at Wanneroo, Neerabup NP, Herne Hill and Bayswater, Perth; and in northeastern Victoria, near Cobram.

Remarks. The species identification of VAITC specimens (above) was confirmed in the present study through DNA barcoding (ITS2 & COI) and comparison with validated AM specimens. Formerly regarded as belonging to Helix , it is now considered to be in the genus Cantareus ( Schileyko, 2006) , see ICZN comments above under Cornu. Cantareus currently contains a single species ( Schileyko, 2006).