Karyological studies of five species of land snails (Helicoidea: Mollusca)

The karyotypes of five species of Helicoidea (Japanese land snails) were analyzed by the air-drying method, using embryonic cells. Somatic cells of Satsuma omphalodes and S. japonica had 2n=58. Karyotypes of Acusta despecta sieboldiana (2n=58), Euhadra dixoni and E. amaliae (2n=56) were also analyzed. Chromosomes of these five species are all metacentric or submetacentric. Two species of Euhadra, dixoni and amaliae, have identical karyotypes while karyotypes of S. omphalodes and S. japonica indicate some dissimilarity in medium-sized and small-sized chromosomes. On the basis of karyotypical characters, A. d. sieboldiana was recognized to be closely related to the Satsuma species, which belong to a different family rather than to Euhadra of the same family as Acusta.