Drymaeus

Drymaeus
Drymaeus strigatus from Peru
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Order:	Stylommatophora
Suborder:	Helicina
Superfamily:	Orthalicoidea
Family:	Bulimulidae
Genus:	Drymaeus Albers, 1850
Type species
Helix hygrohylaead'Orbigny, 1835
Diversity [1]
ca. 300 species
Synonyms [2]
List Bulimus (Drymaeus)Albers, 1850 (basionym) Bulimulus (Drymaeus)Albers, 1850 Bulimulus (Goniognathmus)Crosse & P. Fischer, 1875 Bulimulus (Liostracus) Bulimulus (Mormus)E. von Martens, 1860 Bulimus (Drymaeus)Albers, 1850 Bulimus (Hamadryas)Albers, 1850 Bulimus (Liostracus) Bulimus (Semiclausaria)L. Pfeiffer, 1856 Drymaeus (Drymaeus)Albers, 1850 Drymaeus (Metadrymaeus)Pilsbry, 1926 Drymaeus (Mormus)E. von Martens, 1860 HamadryasAlbers, 1850 Mesembrinus (Mormus)E. von Martens, 1860 Otostomus (Drymaeus)Albers, 1850 Otostomus (Mormus)E. von Martens, 1860 PeltellaJ. E. Gray, 1855

Drymaeus is a large genus of medium-sized, air-breathing tropical land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs belonging to the subfamily Peltellinae within the family Bulimulidae. It is one of the most species-rich genera among Neotropical land mollusks, comprising approximately 300 species distributed from Florida through Central and South America.

Taxonomy and etymology

The name Drymaeus was first introduced by Johann Christian Albers in 1850 as a subgenus of Bulimus Bruguière, 1789. ^[3] The name stems from the greek word δρῦς (drys), meaning "tree" or "oak", ^[4] the word drymaeus itself meaning "lives in the woods". ^[5] The genus continues to be the subject of active taxonomic and evolutionary research. Currently, it is classified within the family Bulimulidae, a group of mostly arboreal snails in the superfamily Orthalicoidea. ^[6] Historically, classification within Drymaeus has relied heavily on shell morphology, but this approach has proven problematic due to extensive phenotypic plasticity and convergent evolution. As a result, several species were misclassified or synonymized prematurely. ^{[7] [1]}

Distribution and habitat

Drymaeus species are primarily distributed throughout the Neotropical region, from Florida and Mexico ^[8] through Central America and into South America, including the Amazon basin, the Andean foothills, and the Atlantic Forest and other biomes in Brazil and Argentina. ^{[1] [7]}

Most species are arboreal or semi-arboreal, ^[1] favoring moist, shaded environments such as lowland rainforests and cloud forests. They are typically found on leaves, tree trunks, and in leaf litter, where humidity levels are high. Their diet consists mainly of biofilm, algae, and decaying plant material. Many species exhibit narrow ecological tolerances and specialized habitat requirements, making them vulnerable to deforestation and habitat fragmentation. Consequently, numerous species within the genus are likely threatened, although few have been formally assessed due to taxonomic uncertainties. ^[1]

Species

Main article: List of Drymaeus species

About 300 species are currently classified under the genus Drymaeus. ^[1] Due to ongoing taxonomic revisions, the precise number is subject to change; some species previously belonging to Drymaeus have been moved to Antidrymaeus and Mesembrinus . Both were formerly considered subgenera of Drymaeus, but were elevated to genus level to reflect recent research on their evolution and relationships. ^{[7] [6] [9]}

References

1. Rosa, Rafael M.; Salvador, Rodrigo B.; Cavallari, Daniel C. (2025). "The disappearing act of the magician tree snail: anatomy, distribution, and phylogenetic relationships of Drymaeus magus (Gastropoda: Bulimulidae), a long-lost species hidden in plain sight". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 203 (3): zlaf017. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf017. ISSN   0024-4082.
2. MolluscaBase. "MolluscaBase - Drymaeus Albers, 1850". www.molluscabase.org. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
3. Albers, Johann C. (1850). Die heliceen nach natürlicher verwandtschaft systematisch geordnet (in German). Berlin: T.C.F. Enslin.
4. Brown, Roland W. (1977) [1st Pub. 1954]. Composition of Scientific Words : A manual of methods and a lexicon of materials for the practice of logotechnics. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institutional Press. p. 27. ISBN   978-0-87474-286-2. OCLC   4495758 . Retrieved 27 August 2025– via Internet Archive.
5. Albers, Johann C. (1860). Die Heliceen nach natürlicher Verwandtschaft systematisch geordnet von Joh. Christ. Albers (in German) (2 ed.). Leipzig: Engelman. pp. 1–359.
6. Salvador, Rodrigo B.; Silva, Fernanda S.; Cavallari, Daniel C.; Köhler, Frank; Slapcinsky, John; Breure, Abraham S. H. (2023). "Molecular phylogeny of the Orthalicoidea land snails: Further support and surprises". PLOS ONE. 18 (7): e0288533. Bibcode:2023PLoSO..1888533S. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288533 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   10370776 . PMID   37494326.
7. Breure, Abraham S. H.; Llosa, Zaidett Barrientos; Monge-Nájera, Julián; Salvador, Rodrigo B.; Robinson, David G. (26 September 2024). "Is being "blue" being different? The status of Antidrymaeus L. Germain, 1907 (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Bulimulidae), with notes on miscellaneous species of Drymaeus Albers, 1850 and Mesembrinus Albers, 1850". Archiv für Molluskenkunde International Journal of Malacology. 153 (2): 135–162. Bibcode:2024ArMol.153..135B. doi:10.1127/arch.moll/153/135-162.
8. Thompson F. G. (2008). "AN ANNOTATED CHECKLIST AND BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE LAND AND FRESHWATER SNAILS OF MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA" central_america_snail_checklist/index.htm Archived 2012-10-12 at the Wayback Machine . "PART 3 PART 3 (ORTHALICOIDEA)". accessed 17 May 2011.
9. Breure A. S. H. & Romero P. (2012). "Support and surprises: molecular phylogeny of the land snail superfamily Orthalicoidea using a three-locus gene analysis with a divergence time analysis and ancestral area reconstruction (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora)". Archiv für Molluskenkunde: International Journal of Malacology 141(1): 1-20. doi : 10.1127/arch.moll/1869-0963/141/001-020.

External links

• Tree snails of Florida, Drymaeus spp. on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures website