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Bradybaenidae is a family of medium-sized to small land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Helicoidea.

They are mainly found in Asia, with only one species occurring in Northwestern Europe: Fruticicola fruticum.

The name of the family and the genus Bradybaena is derived from the Greek words bradus ( = slow) and baino ( = walk), meaning "slow walker".

Anatomy

Some genera of snails in this family create and use love darts as part of their mating behavior. The dart sac contains one to two glands. They are also defined by missing a diverticulum.

In this family, the number of haploid chromosomes varies from 26 to 30 (according to the values in this table).^[1]

Genera

Aegista tokyoensis

Subfamily Bradybaeninae Pilsbry, 1924 - they are defined by the presence of two divided glands with one to two accessory sacs.

• Tribe Aegistini
  • Aegista Albers, 1850
  • Coelorus Pilsbry, 1900
  • Lepidopisum Habe, 1957
  • Mandarina Pilsbry, 1895
  • Plectotropis Martens in Albers, 1860
  • Trishoplita Jacobi, 1898
• Tribe Bradybaenini Pilsbry, 1934
  • Ainohelix Kuroda & Taki, 1933
  • Bradybaena Beck, 1837 for example: Bradybaena similaris, the Asian trampsnail
  • Cathaica Moellendorff, 1884
  • Coccoglypta Pilsbry, 1895
  • Eulota Hartmann, 1843
  • Ezohelix Kuroda & Emura, 1938
  • Fruticicola - for example Fruticicola fruticum
  • Laeocathaica Moellendorff, 1899
  • Nesiohelix Kuroda & Emura, 1943
  • Phaeohelix Kuroda & Habe, 1949
  • Plecteulota Moellendorff, 1892
  • Ponsadenia Schileyko, 1978
  • Pseudiberus Ancey, 1887
  • Pseudobuliminus Gredler, 1886
• Tribe Euhadrini Habe, Okutani & Nishiwaki , 1994
  • Euhadra Pilsbry, 1890

Subfamily Helicostylinae Ihering, 1909  :they are defined by the presence of one gland that is being inserted without accessory sac (Tricheulota group) or with accessory sac (Helicostyla group).

• • Cochostyla
  • Helicostyla Férussac, 1821
  • Tricheulota Pilsbry, 1895

Taxonomy

The genus Monadenia Pilsbry, 1895 used to be placed in this family^[2], but it has been moved to the family Xanthonychidae.

The Family Bradybaenidae is a member of the Superfamily Helicoidea. Here is the complete "parentage" of Bradybaenidae:

• Domain: Eukaryota Whittaker & Margulis,1978 - eukaryotes
  • Kingdom: Animalia Linnaeus, 1758 - animals
    • Subkingdom: Bilateria (Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983 - bilaterians
      • Branch: Protostomia Grobben, 1908 - protostomes
        • Infrakingdom: Lophotrochozoa - Lophotrochozoans
          • Superphylum: Eutrochozoa
            • Phylum: Mollusca (Linnaeus, 1758) Cuvier, 1795 - Molluscs
              • Class: Gastropoda Cuvier, 1795 - Snails and Slugs
                • Subclass: Orthogastropoda Ponder & Lindberg, 1996
                  • Superorder: Heterobranchia J.e. Gray, 1840
                    • Order: Pulmonata Cuvier, in Blainville, 1814 - land snails and slugs
                      • Suborder: Eupulmonata (Haszprunar & Huber, 1990)
                        • Infraorder: Stylommatophora A. Schmidt, 1855
                          • Superfamily: Helicoidea Rafinesque, 1815
                            • Family: Bradybaenidae