Helix lucorum

*Helix lucorum* (raw)
	Helix lucorum served as escargots
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	95 kcal (400 kJ)
Carbohydrates	0 g
Sugars	0 g
Dietary fiber	0 g
Fat	1.59 g
Saturated	0 g
Trans	0 g
Protein	19.05 g
Vitamins
Vitamins and minerals
Vitamins	Quantity %DV†
Vitamin A equiv.	0% 0 μg
Vitamin C	0% 0 mg
Minerals	Quantity %DV†
Calcium	12% 159 mg
Iron	13% 2.29 mg
Sodium	4% 103 mg
Other constituents	Quantity
Cholesterol	206 mg
	Full Link to USDA Database entry [ dead link ]
	†Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults, except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies

Helix lucorum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Order:	Stylommatophora
Family:	Helicidae
Subfamily:	Helicinae
Tribe:	Helicini
Genus:	Helix
Species:	H. lucorum
Binomial name
	Helix lucorum; Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms
	List Helix (Helicogena) ancyrensisKobelt, 1905 (junior synonym); Helix (Helicogena) ancyrensis haussknechtiKobelt, 1905 (junior synonym); Helix (Helicogena) everekensisKobelt, 1907 (junior synonym); Helix (Helicogena) halepensisKobelt, 1905 (junior synonym); Helix (Helicogena) quinquefasciataKobelt, 1905 (junior synonym); Helix (Helix) lucorumLinnaeus, 1758· accepted, alternate representation; Helix (Pomatia) dorylaeensisKobelt, 1903 (junior synonym); Helix (Pomatia) dorylaensisNägele, 1903 (suspected synonym); Helix annosaMascarini, 1892; Helix atrocinctaBourguignat, 1883; Helix castaneaOlivier, 1801 (invalid; not O. F. Müller, 1774); Helix castanea var. bulgaricaKobelt, 1905 (junior synonym); Helix castanea var. nigerrimaKobelt, 1905 (junior synonym); Helix lucorum anaphoraWesterlund, 1889; Helix lucorum huetiKobelt, 1905 (junior synonym); Helix lucorum loebbeckeiKobelt, 1905 (junior synonym); Helix lucorum moussoniKobelt, 1905 (invalid; not L. Pfeiffer, 1849); Helix lucorum var. euphraticaE. von Martens, 1874 (junior synonym); Helix mahometanaBourguignat, 1860 (junior synonym); Helix mutataLamarck, 1822 (junior synonym); Helix nigrozonataBourguignat, 1883; Helix onixiomicraBourguignat, 1860 (junior synonym); Helix onixiomicra var. presbensisKobelt, 1905 (junior synonym); Helix radiosaRossmässler, 1838 (junior synonym); Helix rumelica var. magnificaKobelt, 1905 (junior synonym); Helix ryparaBourguignat, 1883; Helix schachbulakensisBourguignat, 1876 (junior synonym); Helix sociaL. Pfeiffer, 1853 (junior synonym); Helix tauricaKrynicki, 1833; Helix viragoBourguignat, 1883;

Last updated August 18, 2025

Helix lucorum, known commonly as the Turkish Snail^[2], is a species of large, edible, air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Helicidae, the typical snails.^[1]

Description

Adult snails weigh about 20–25 g.^[3]

The width of the shell is 35–60 mm.^[4] The height of the shell is 25–45 mm.^[4]

This species of snail makes and uses love darts.

Distribution

The native distribution is the Caucasus, Anatolia and, arguably, the Balkans. It has also invaded many other regions since ancient times, likely assisted by humans.^[5]

Eastern native range with main genetic diversity of the species:

Balkans (probably native):

Albania^[5]
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria ^[5]
Croatia
Greece^[5]
Macedonia^[5]
Serbia^[5]
Turkey^[5]

Other countries:

Israel ^[7]
Syria
Russia - could be native in Caucasus, invasive in some other regions^[5]
Italy - probably invasive^[5]
Hungary - probably invasive^[5]
Romania - probably invasive^[5]
Ukraine - invasive, in Crimea ("Helix taurica Krynicki, 1833") at least since early 19 century, probably much longer, these populations originated from Anatolia;^[5] other colonies of a different lineage also appear since 2000s in mainland part of Southern Ukraine and in Crimea as well^[5]^[8]^[9]
Czech Republic - invasive, since 2009, as of 2011 the only locality is Prague-Žižkov ^[4]^[10]
Slovakia - invasive, since 2013, as of 2014 the only locality is in Bratislava ^[11]
France - invasive
Great Britain - invasive, since 2009, at Wimbledon^[12]

Ecology

The diameter of the egg is 4.4 mm.^[13] Juvenile snails that are two to three months old weigh 0.5–0.9 g.^[3]

Human use

Measurement of DNA damage in H. lucorum collected from environmental sites can be used for evaluating soil pollution at these sites.^[14] DNA damage in H. lucorum haemocytes and digestive gland cells is determined by the comet assay.

Helix lucorum is used in cuisine as escargots.

References

1 2 "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Out of scope". marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2025-05-26.
↑ Mienis, Henk & Rittner, Oz. (2010). On the presence of Helix lucorum Linnaeus, 1758 (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Helicidae) in Le Vesinet, a western suburb of Paris.. MalaCo. 6. 266-267.
1 2 Danilova A.B. & Grinkevich L. N. (2012). "Failure of Long-Term Memory Formation in Juvenile Snails Is Determined by Acetylation Status of Histone H3 and Can Be Improved by NaB Treatment". PLoS ONE 7(7): e41828. doi : 10.1371/journal.pone.0041828 .
1 2 3 (in Czech) Horsák M., Juřičková L., Beran L., Čejka T. & Dvořák L. (2010). "Komentovaný seznam měkkýšů zjištěných ve volné přírodě České a Slovenské republiky. [Annotated list of mollusc species recorded outdoors in the Czech and Slovak Republics]". Malacologica Bohemoslovaca , Suppl. 1: 1-37. PDF.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Korábek O., Juřičková L., Balashov I., Petrusek A. The contribution of ancient and modern anthropogenic introductions to the colonization of Europe by the land snail Helix lucorum Linnaeus, 1758 (Helicidae) // Contributions to Zoology. — 2018. — 87 (2). — P. 61—74.
↑ Mumladze L. (2013). "Shell size differences in Helix lucorum Linnaeus, 1758 (Mollusca: Gastropoda) between natural and urban environments". Turkish Journal of Zoology 37: 1-6.
↑ Commonwealth of Australia (2002 April). "Citrus Imports from the Arab Republic of Egypt. A Review Under Existing Import Conditions for Citrus from Israel Archived 2009-01-09 at the Wayback Machine ". Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Australia. Caption: Gastropods, page 12 and Appendix 2.
↑ Balashov I. & Gural-Sverlova N. (2012). "An annotated checklist of the terrestrial molluscs of Ukraine". Journal of Conchology 41(1): 91-109.
↑ Balashov I.A., Kramarenko S.S., Zhukov A.V., Shklyaruk A.N., Baidashnikov A.A., Vasyliuk A.V. 2013. Contribution to the knowledge of terrestrial molluscs in southeastern Ukraine. Malacologica Bohemoslovaca. 12: 62–69.
↑ Peltanová A., Petrusek A., Kment P. & Juřičková L. (2011). "A fast snail's pace: colonization of Central Europe by Mediterranean gastropods". Biological Invasions14(4): 759-764. doi : 10.1007/s10530-011-0121-9.
↑ Čejka T. & Čačaný J. (2014). "The first record of the Turkish snail (Helix lucorum L., 1758) in the Slovak Republic". Malacologica Bohemoslovaca 13: 124–125. PDF.
↑ Palmer, P. (2010). "Helix lucorum in Wimbledon, S.W. London". Mollusc World. 23: 12.
↑ Heller J.: Life History Strategies. in Barker G. M. (ed.): The biology of terrestrial molluscs . CABI Publishing, Oxon, UK, 2001, ISBN 0-85199-318-4. 1-146, cited page: 428.
↑ Sargsyan A, Hovhannisyan G, Simonyan A, Arakelyan M, Arzumanyan M, Aroutiounian R. Application of land snail Helix lucorum for evaluation of genotoxicity of soil pollution. Mutat Res Genet Toxicol Environ Mutagen. 2022 Jun;878:503500. doi: 10.1016/j.mrgentox.2022.503500. Epub 2022 May 6. PMID 35649673
↑ United States Food and Drug Administration (2024). "Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels". FDA. Archived from the original on 2024-03-27. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
↑ "TABLE 4-7 Comparison of Potassium Adequate Intakes Established in This Report to Potassium Adequate Intakes Established in the 2005 DRI Report". p. 120. In: Stallings, Virginia A.; Harrison, Meghan; Oria, Maria, eds. (2019). "Potassium: Dietary Reference Intakes for Adequacy". Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. pp. 101–124. doi:10.17226/25353. ISBN 978-0-309-48834-1. PMID 30844154. NCBI NBK545428.

External links

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[WoRMS-1] 1 2 "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Out of scope". marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2025-05-26.

[2] Mienis, Henk & Rittner, Oz. (2010). On the presence of Helix lucorum Linnaeus, 1758 (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Helicidae) in Le Vesinet, a western suburb of Paris.. MalaCo. 6. 266-267.

[Danilova_2012-3] 1 2 Danilova A.B. & Grinkevich L. N. (2012). "Failure of Long-Term Memory Formation in Juvenile Snails Is Determined by Acetylation Status of Histone H3 and Can Be Improved by NaB Treatment". PLoS ONE 7(7): e41828. doi : 10.1371/journal.pone.0041828 .

[Horsák_2010-4] 1 2 3 (in Czech) Horsák M., Juřičková L., Beran L., Čejka T. & Dvořák L. (2010). "Komentovaný seznam měkkýšů zjištěných ve volné přírodě České a Slovenské republiky. [Annotated list of mollusc species recorded outdoors in the Czech and Slovak Republics]". Malacologica Bohemoslovaca , Suppl. 1: 1-37. PDF.

[Korábek2018-5] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Korábek O., Juřičková L., Balashov I., Petrusek A. The contribution of ancient and modern anthropogenic introductions to the colonization of Europe by the land snail Helix lucorum Linnaeus, 1758 (Helicidae) // Contributions to Zoology. — 2018. — 87 (2). — P. 61—74.

[Mumnladze-6] Mumladze L. (2013). "Shell size differences in Helix lucorum Linnaeus, 1758 (Mollusca: Gastropoda) between natural and urban environments". Turkish Journal of Zoology 37: 1-6.

[7] Commonwealth of Australia (2002 April). "Citrus Imports from the Arab Republic of Egypt. A Review Under Existing Import Conditions for Citrus from Israel Archived 2009-01-09 at the Wayback Machine ". Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Australia. Caption: Gastropods, page 12 and Appendix 2.

[Balashov-8] ↑ Balashov I. & Gural-Sverlova N. (2012). "An annotated checklist of the terrestrial molluscs of Ukraine". Journal of Conchology 41(1): 91-109.

[9] Balashov I.A., Kramarenko S.S., Zhukov A.V., Shklyaruk A.N., Baidashnikov A.A., Vasyliuk A.V. 2013. Contribution to the knowledge of terrestrial molluscs in southeastern Ukraine. Malacologica Bohemoslovaca. 12: 62–69.

[Peltanová_2011-10] Peltanová A., Petrusek A., Kment P. & Juřičková L. (2011). "A fast snail's pace: colonization of Central Europe by Mediterranean gastropods". Biological Invasions14(4): 759-764. doi : 10.1007/s10530-011-0121-9.

[11] ↑ Čejka T. & Čačaný J. (2014). "The first record of the Turkish snail (Helix lucorum L., 1758) in the Slovak Republic". Malacologica Bohemoslovaca 13: 124–125. PDF.

[12] ↑ Palmer, P. (2010). "Helix lucorum in Wimbledon, S.W. London". Mollusc World. 23: 12.

[Barker-13] ↑ Heller J.: Life History Strategies. in Barker G. M. (ed.): The biology of terrestrial molluscs . CABI Publishing, Oxon, UK, 2001, ISBN 0-85199-318-4. 1-146, cited page: 428.

[14] Sargsyan A, Hovhannisyan G, Simonyan A, Arakelyan M, Arzumanyan M, Aroutiounian R. Application of land snail Helix lucorum for evaluation of genotoxicity of soil pollution. Mutat Res Genet Toxicol Environ Mutagen. 2022 Jun;878:503500. doi: 10.1016/j.mrgentox.2022.503500. Epub 2022 May 6. PMID 35649673

[FDADailyValues-15] ↑ United States Food and Drug Administration (2024). "Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels". FDA. Archived from the original on 2024-03-27. Retrieved 2024-03-28.

[NationalAcademiesPotassium-16] "TABLE 4-7 Comparison of Potassium Adequate Intakes Established in This Report to Potassium Adequate Intakes Established in the 2005 DRI Report". p. 120. In: Stallings, Virginia A.; Harrison, Meghan; Oria, Maria, eds. (2019). "Potassium: Dietary Reference Intakes for Adequacy". Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. pp. 101–124. doi:10.17226/25353. ISBN 978-0-309-48834-1. PMID 30844154. NCBI NBK545428.

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