Caseolus commixtus
Encyclopedia
Caseolus commixtus is a species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of small air-breathing land snail
Land snail
A land snail is any of the many species of snail that live on land, as opposed to those that live in salt water and fresh water. Land snails are terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells, It is not always an easy matter to say which species are terrestrial, because some are more or less...

s, terrestrial
Terrestrial animal
Terrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land , as compared with aquatic animals, which live predominantly or entirely in the water , or amphibians, which rely on a combination of aquatic and terrestrial habitats...

 pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Hygromiidae
Hygromiidae
Hygromiidae is a taxonomic family of small to medium-sized air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Helicoidea.-Anatomy:...

, the hairy snails and their allies.

Although the Fauna Europea
Fauna Europea
Fauna Europaea is a database of the scientific names and distribution of all living multicellular European land and fresh-water animals. Its construction was funded by the European Union .-External links:**...

 spells this species name as shown here, with a -us ending, in many other sources, including the International Wildlife Law listing the name is spelled "Caseolus commixta". Here we are assuming these usages are in error, firstly because the Latin word "caseolus" is masculine, and also for reasons of consistency, because Richard Thomas Lowe
Richard Thomas Lowe
Richard Thomas Lowe was a British botanist, ichthyologist, malacologist, and clergyman. In 1825 he graduated from Christ's College, Cambridge and in the same year took holy orders. He became a clergyman in the Madeira Islands in 1832, where he was a part-time naturalist, extensively studying the...

 has named at least five other species in the genus Caseolus
Caseolus
Caseolus is a genus of small air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Hygromiidae.The name Caseolus is masculine and means "little cheese", based on the shape of the shell of this species.-Species:...

using masculine adjectival names.

Distribution

This species of land snail lives in Madeira, Portugal. It is mentioned in Annexes II and IV of Habitats Directive.
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