Chondropoma pictum
Encyclopedia
Chondropoma pictum 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 an operculate
Operculum (gastropod)
The operculum, meaning little lid, is a corneous or calcareous anatomical structure which exists in many groups of sea snails and freshwater snails, and also in a few groups of land snails...

 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...

, 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...

 gastropod mollusk in the family Pomatiidae
Pomatiidae
The family Pomatiidae is a taxonomic family of small operculate land snails, terrestrial gastropod mollusks that can be found over the warmer parts of the Old World. In the older literature, this family is designated as Pomatiasidae....

.

Distribution

This species lives in Cuba, for example at Bacunayagua.

Ecology

Chondropoma pictum is a ground dwelling, rock dwelling and tree dwelling species.

It has been observed behavior in the field, that Chondropoma pictum disturbed by humans has swung the shell forward as a defense mechanism avoiding attack by predators.

Predators of Chondropoma pictum include larvae of firefly bug Alecton discoidalis
Alecton discoidalis
Alecton discoidalis is a species of firefly in the beetle family Lampyridae, commonly known as the Cuban endemic firefly. The larvae of this species are predators on both pulmonate and operculate land snails. Alecton discoidalis is the type species of the genus Alecton.-Distribution:Alecton is the...

. On some occasions, the Chondropoma pictum emitted a protective foam which enabled them to thwart the attack.
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