Cepaea

Cepaea
White-lipped snail Cepaea hortensis
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Stylommatophora
Family: Helicidae
Subfamily: Helicinae
Tribe: Allognathini
Genus: Cepaea
Held, 1838
Type species
Helix nemoralis
Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms
  • Cepaea (Cepaea) Held, 1838
  • Helix (Tachea) W. Turton, 1831 (Invalid: junior homonym of Tachea Fleming, 1822 [Aves])
  • Hystrionica Scudder, 1882

Cepaea is a genus of large air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the family Helicidae. The shells are often brightly coloured and patterned with brown stripes. The two living species in this genus, C. nemoralis and C. hortensis, are widespread and common in Western and Central Europe. In North America, C. hortensis is native on the northeast coast, but both species have been introduced elsewhere, and they are also spreading further east in Europe. Both have been influential model species for ongoing studies of genetics and natural selection. Like many Helicidae, these snails use love darts during mating.