Otala is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of large air-breathing land snail

Snail

Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...

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 Helicidae

Helicidae

The Helicidae, sometimes known as the typical snails, are a taxonomic family of small to large, air-breathing, land snails. In other words, they are terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks....

. Archaeological recovery in Morocco

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

 indicates the exploitation of this genus by ancient Romans.

Distribution

This genus of snail is native to northwestern Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

 and southwestern Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

.

Anatomy

These snails create and shoot love darts as part of their courtship

Courtship

Courtship is the period in a couple's relationship which precedes their engagement and marriage, or establishment of an agreed relationship of a more enduring kind. In courtship, a couple get to know each other and decide if there will be an engagement or other such agreement...

 and mating behavior.

Species

Species within the genus Otala include:

• Otala lactea
  Otala lactea
  Otala lactea, common names, the milk snail, or Spanish snail, is a large, edible species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Helicidae. Archaeological recovery at the Volubilis illustrates prehistoric exploitation of O...
  
  (Müller, 1774)
• Otala punctata
  Otala punctata
  Otala punctata is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Helicidae. They are prepared in a typical dish in South Spain, "cabrillas", cooked in spicy tomato sauce.-Distribution:...
  
  (Müller, 1774)

External links

• NCBI