{{Short description|Species of gastropod}} {{Speciesbox | name = White-lipped snail | image = White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis) (9706560289).jpg | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |last1=Walther |first1=F. |year=2025 |title=''Cepaea hortensis'' |volume=2025 |article-number=e.T157208A220221843 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2025-2.RLTS.T157208A220221843.en |access-date=1 March 2026}}</ref> | status2 = G5 | status2_system = TNC | status2_ref = <ref name=NS>{{cite NatureServe |id=2.120311 |title=''Cepaea hortensis'' |access-date=12 May 2026}}</ref> | taxon = Cepaea hortensis | authority = ([[Otto Friedrich Müller|O.F. Müller]], 1774)<ref>Müller, O. F. 1774. ''Vermivm terrestrium et fluviatilium, seu animalium infusoriorum, helminthicorum, et testaceorum, non marinorum, succincta historia''. Volumen alterum. - pp. I-XXVI [= 1-36], 1-214, [1-10]. Havniae & Lipsiae. (Heineck & Faber).</ref> }}
The '''white-lipped snail''' or '''garden banded snail''', [[scientific name]] '''''Cepaea hortensis''''', is a large species of air-breathing [[land snail]], a terrestrial [[pulmonate]] [[gastropod]] mollusc in the family Helicidae. The only other species in the genus is ''[[Cepaea nemoralis]]''.
== Description ==
''Cepaea hortensis'' has a [[gastropod shell|shell]] up to {{convert|22|mm|0|abbr=on}} in diameter, tending to be slightly smaller than ''C. nemoralis''. The [[umbilicus (mollusc)|umbilicus]] is closed in adults, but narrowly open in juveniles.<ref name=Welter-Schultes2012/> Although the shells of ''C. hortensis'' are most commonly yellow, they exhibit a range of background colours from brown through pink to pale yellow, and up to five brown bands may be present, some of which may fuse with their neighbours. This [[polymorphism (biology)|polymorphism]], which [[Cepaea#Shell polymorphism|is shared]] with ''[[Cepaea nemoralis]]'', has been the subject of considerable research.<ref name=Jones1977/>
This species of snail creates and uses [[love dart]]s during mating.
The size of the egg is 2 mm.<ref name="Barker">Heller J. 2001: ''Life History Strategies''. in Barker G. M. (ed.): ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=WlvX-9Wt0toC&hl The biology of terrestrial molluscs]''. CABI Publishing, Oxon, UK, 2001, {{ISBN|0-85199-318-4}}. 1-146, cited page: 428.</ref>
{{gallery|mode=packed |Cepaea.hortensis.jpg|''Cepaea hortensis'' |White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis).webm|Specimen in the United Kingdom |Cepaea hortensis - Shell 35.jpg|Yellow shell with five unfused bands }}
[[File:Cepaea hortensis SEM dart.jpg|thumb|''C. hortensis'' [[love dart]] (0.5 mm [[scale bar]] above and 50 [[μm]] below)]]
=== Similar species === In most areas adults of ''C. hortensis'' can be distinguished by the pale colouration of the [[Gastropod shell#Parts of the shell|lip]] around the shell [[aperture (mollusc)|aperture]], whereas it is typically brown in ''C. nemoralis''. But in some areas (e.g. Ireland, Pyrenees) ''C. nemoralis'' can have a white lip, and ''C. hortensis'' can rarely have a brown lip.<ref name="Jones1977">{{cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=J.S. |last2=Leith |first2=B.H. |last3=Rawlings |first3=P. |title=Polymorphism in ''Cepaea'': a problem with too many solutions? |journal=Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics |date=1977 |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=109–143 |doi=10.1146/annurev.es.08.110177.000545}}</ref> More certain characters require dissection. A [[Cross section (geometry)|cross section]] of the [[love dart]] of ''C. hortensis'' shows a cross with bifurcated blades, whereas that of ''C. nemoralis'' is a simple cross. The mucous gland has 4 or more branches in ''C. hortensis'', but 3 or fewer branches in ''C. nemoralis''.<ref name="Welter-Schultes2012">{{cite book |last1=Welter-Schultes |first1=F.W. |title=European non-marine molluscs, a guide for species identification = Bestimmungsbuch für europäische Land- und Süsswassermollusken |date=2012 |publisher=Planet Poster Editions |location=Göttingen |isbn=9783933922755}}</ref>
''[[Caucasotachea vindobonensis]]'' and ''[[Macularia sylvatica]]'' are two superficially similar species formerly mistakenly included in the genus ''Cepaea''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Neiber |first1=M.T. |last2=Hausdorf |first2=B. |year=2015 |title=Molecular phylogeny reveals the polyphyly of the snail genus ''Cepaea'' (Gastropoda: Helicidae) |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=93 |pages=143–149 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2015.07.022 |pmid=26256642}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Neiber |first1=M.T. |last2=Sagorny |first2=C. |last3=Hausdorf |first3=B. |year=2016 |title=Increasing the number of molecular markers resolves the phylogenetic relationship of "''Cepaea''" ''vindobonensis'' (Pfeiffer 1828) with ''Caucasotachea'' Boettger 1909 (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Helicidae) |journal=Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research |volume=54 |issue=1 |pages=40–45 |doi=10.1111/jzs.12116 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Both have a lip that is brown near the [[Gastropod shell#Parts of the shell|columella]] becoming pale towards the [[Gastropod shell#Parts of the shell|suture]], and they have fine growth ridges on the shell whereas in both ''Cepaea'' species it is smooth.<ref name="Kerney1979">{{cite book |last1=Kerney |first1=M.P. |last2=Cameron |first2=R.A.D. |title=A field guide to the land snails of Britain and north-west Europe |date=1979 |publisher=Collins |location=London |isbn=000219676X}}</ref>
== Distribution and habitat ==
The [[Native species|native]] distribution of this species is [[Western Europe|Western]] and [[Central Europe]]. Also its occurrence along the coast of northeastern North America should be considered native, since archaeological deposits reveal it to have been present at least 7850 years ago, so before the presence of [[Vikings|Viking]] explorers.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pearce |first1=T.A. |last2=Olori |first2=J.C. |last3=Kemezis |first3=K.W. |title=Land snails from St. Elzear cave, Gaspé Peninsula, Quebec: antiquity of ''Cepaea hortensis'' in North America. |journal=Annals of Carnegie Museum |date=10 August 2010 |volume=79 |issue=1 |pages=65-78 |doi=10.2992/007.079.0105}}</ref> The range of ''C. hortensis'' extends further north in Scotland than that of ''C. nemoralis'' and it is the only ''Cepaea'' species in Iceland and northern parts of Scandinavia (up to 67° 30' N).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bengtson |first1=S.‐A. |last2=Nilsson |first2=A. |last3=Nordström |first3=S. |last4=Rrundgren |first4=S. |title=Polymorphism in relation to habitat in the snail ''Cepaea hortensis'' in Iceland. |journal=Journal of Zoology |date=February 1976 |volume=178 |issue=2 |pages=173–188 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.1976.tb06006.x}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Valovirta |first1=I. |last2=Halkka |first2=O. |title=Colour polymorphism in northern peripheral populations of ''Cepaea hortensis'' |journal=Hereditas |date=12 February 2009 |volume=83 |issue=1 |pages=123–126 |doi=10.1111/j.1601-5223.1976.tb01576.x|doi-access=free }}</ref> Conversely, the southern limit of ''C. hortensis'' is also further north: in Spain it occurs only in the north-east and it is absent from Italy.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cadevall |first1=J. |last2=Orozco |first2=A. |title=Caracoles y babosas de la Península Ibérica y Baleares |date=2016 |publisher=Omega |location=Barcelona |isbn=9788428215992}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Stoch |first1=F. |title=Checklist of the Italian Fauna On-line version 2.1 |url=https://www.faunaitalia.it/checklist/index.html |website=www.faunaitalia.it |publisher=Ministry of Environment, Directorate-General for Nature and Sea Protection (PNM) |access-date=22 April 2023}}</ref><ref name="AB">{{cite web |last1=Welter-Schultes |first1=F. |title=''Cepaea hortensis'' |url=http://www.animalbase.uni-goettingen.de/zooweb/servlet/AnimalBase/home/species?id=1371 |website=Animal Base |publisher=University of Göttingen |access-date=21 April 2023}}</ref> ''Cepaea hortensis'' has been recently introduced to the Moscow region of Russia<ref name="Egorov">{{cite journal |last1=Egorov | first1=R. |title=The first record of introduced snail ''Cepaea hortensis'' (Müller, 1774) (Stylommatophora: Helicidae) in the central part of European Russia |journal=Ruthenica |date=2015 |volume=25 |issue=3 | pages=93–97 }}</ref> and to Ukraine,<ref name="Gural-Sverlova2021">{{cite journal |last1=Gural-Sverlova |first1=N. |last2=Egorov |first2=R. |last3=Kruglova |first3=O. |last4=Kovalevich |first4=N. |last5=Gural |first5=R. |title=Introduced land snail ''Cepaea nemoralis'' (Gastropoda: Helicidae) in Eastern Europe: spreading history and the shell colouration variability |journal=Malacologica Bohemoslovaca |date=27 September 2021 |volume=20 |pages=75–91 |doi=10.5817/MaB2021-20-75|doi-access=free }}</ref> but has not established itself as widely as ''C. nemoralis''. It reaches an altitude of 2050 m in the Swiss Alps.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Turner |first1=H. |last2=Kuiper |first2=J.G.J. |last3=Thew |first3=N. |last4=Bernasconi |first4=R. |last5=Rüetschi |first5=J. |last6=Wüthrich |first6=M. |last7=Gosteli |first7=M. |title=Atlas der Mollusken der Schweiz und Liechtensteins |date=1998 |publisher=CentreSuisse de cartographie de la faune |location=Neuchâtel |isbn=2884140131}}</ref>
The two ''Cepaea'' species share many of the same habitats, such as woods, dunes and grassland, but the white-lipped snail tolerates wetter and colder areas.<ref name="Jones1977" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons|Cepaea hortensis}} *[http://www.animalbase.uni-goettingen.de/zooweb/servlet/AnimalBase/home/species?id=1371 ''Cepaea hortensis''] at [[Animalbase]] taxonomy, short description, distribution, biology, status (threats), images *[http://eol.org/pages/449908/media ''Cepaea hortensis''] images at [[Encyclopedia of Life]] *[http://ipp.boku.ac.at/private/wf/Cepaea%20hortensis.html Images of shell variations in ''C. hortensis'']
{{Taxonbar|from=Q427854}}
[[Category:Helicidae]] [[Category:Gastropods described in 1774]]