Japanese

On Quantula striata (Gray,1834)

a bioluminescence snail with a compilation of related works.

CHAN,Sow-Yan Molluscan pictures

Quantula striata is regarded as the only land gastropod in the world capable of true bioluminescence. It can be collected fairly easily in Singapore which was the first discovered location for its light value in September 1943 by Mr.Kumazawa(entomologist) at Goodwood Park Hotel, Scotts Road. This snail is normally collected in secondary forest,lawns,rubbish dumps,under concrete slabs and also in crevices along walkways especially after rain. Because of this curious and unique luminous character it is probably the most observed species as compared to other landsnails locally.

The luminous organ is said to originate flashes of yellow-green light beneath the mucous fold of the head in juvenile stage (TSUJI,F.I.,1983), is known as the 'organ of Haneda'. Another curious character is that the mature snail sometimes loses the organ and does not appear again. A social role for luminescence probably suggested that the aggregation of young snails are on finding sources of food.

References cited:

ADAMS, HENRY & ADAMS, ARTHUR 1854 - 1858
The Genera of Recent Mollusca Volume II. John Van Voorst, Paternoster Row, London. Pages 1 - 661.
BAKER, H. BURRINGTON 1941a
Zonitid Snails from Pacific Islands. Part 3 & 4 (1941) 3. Genera 0ther than Microcystinae. Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bull. 166, pp. 205 - 346, pls 43 - 65.
BAKER, H. BURRINGTON 1941b
Zonitid Snails from Pacific Islands. Part 3 & 4 (1941) 4. Distribution and Indexes. Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bull. 166, pp. 347 - 370.
BENTHEM - JUTTING, W.S.S. van 1949
On a collection of non-marine Mollusca from Malaya in the Raffles Museum, Singapore, with an appendix on cave shells. Bull. Raffles Mus., Singapore 19: 50 - 77, pls. I - III.
BENTHEM - JUTTING, W.S.S. van 1960
Some notes on land and freshwater mollusca of Malaya. Basteria 24 (1 & 2):10 - 20, 1 figure.
BERRY, A.J. 1974
The anatomy of West Malaysian snails of parasitological significance. Malayan Nature J. 27: 131 - 165.
CHOU, LOKE MING & NG, PETER K.L. 1994
A First Look at Biodiversity in Singapore. Mollusca listing and references: 73 - 78, 158 - 159 National Council on the Environment, Ministry of Environment.
COPELAND, J. & DASTON, M. M. 1989
Bioluminescence in the terrestrial snail Dyakia (Quantula) striata. Malacologia, 30 (1 - 2): 317 - 324.
COPELAND, J. & MANERI, M.
Ecological considerations and bioluminescence in the terrestrial snail Dyakia (Quantula) striata. (not seen) Natl. Geog. Rept. Was listed as "In press" in COUNSILMAN et al, 1987.
COUNSILMAN, J. J, D. LOH, S. Y. CHAN, W. H. TAN, J. COPELAND & M. MANERI 1987
Factors affecting the presence and flashing rate of the photogenic organ in an Asian land snail. The Veliger, 29 (4): 394 - 399.
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Landsnail collecting in Indonesia. American Conchologist, 23 (3): 7 - 11.
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FISCHER, P. 1891
Catalogue et Distribution Geographique Des Mollusques Terrestres, Fluviatiles et Marins D'une Partie de L' Indo-chine (Siam, Laos, Cambodge, Cochinchine, Annam, Tonkin). Bull. Soc. Hist. nat. d'Autun, 4: 1 - 193. Page 20, Ariophanta (Xesta) naninoides = Quantula striata.
GODWIN-AUSTEN, H.H. 1897
On a collection of land-shells made in Borneo by Mr.A.Everett, with descriptions of supposed new species. Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1897: 22 - 47, pls. 2 - 6.
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A classified list of the Helicoid land shells of Asia. J. Malac., 10 (2): 45 - 62, pl. 3.
HANEDA, Y. 1946
A luminous land snail, Dyakia striata, in Malaya. Seibutsu [Living Organisms] 1: 294 - 298.
HANEDA, Y. 1955
Luminous organisms of Japan and the Far East. Pages 349-356. IN: The Luminescence of Biological Systems. Edited by Frank H. Johnson. American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, D.C.
HANEDA, Y. 1963
Further studies on a luminous land snail, Quantula striata, in Malaya. Science Report of the Yokosuka City Museum, 8: 1 - 9.
HANEDA, Y. 1979
Flash patterns of the light on luminous land snail, Quantula striata (Gray) from Singapore. Science Report of the Yokosuka City Museum, 26: 31 - 33.
HANEDA, Y. 1981
Luminescence activity of the land snail Quantula striata. IN: Bioluminescence and Chemiluminescence: Basic Chemistry and Analytical Application. Editors: M.A. DeLuca & W.D. McElroy. Page 257 - 265. Academic Press,New York.
HANEDA, Y. & TSUJI, F.I. 1969
Observations on the luminescence of the land snail Quantula striata, and its life history. Science Report of the Yokosuka City Museum 15: 10 - 13.
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Mollusca except Cephalopoda.Pages 242-268. IN:Bioluminescence. Academic Press Inc. Publishers, 1952, New York.
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Bioluminescence of Invertebrates other than Insects. Phylum Mollusca.Pages 206 - 215. IN:Bioluminescence in Action. Academic Press, 1978.
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Fluorescent substance in the luminous land snail, Dyakia striata. Agric. Biol. Chem., 55(8): 1947 - 1951.
KOBELT, W. (in Martini Chemnitz) 18??
Die Schnirkelschnecken nebst den zunaechst verwandten Gattungen. Bd. 1 Abt 12 V. Page 1171, plate 291, figures 4-6, Nanina leechi = Quantula striata.
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On a new sub-family Dyakiinae of the Zonitidae. Proc. Malac. Soc. London 19: 190 - 201.
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Mollusques terrestres et fluviatiles du royaume de Perak et des pays voisins (presquile Malaise) Bull. Soc. Zool. France, 10: 353 - 428, pls. 5 - 9. Hemiplecta leechi (page 31) = Quantula striata.
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Molluscan Bioluminescence. Chapter 7. Pages 257 - 279. IN: The Mollusca, Vol. 2 Enviromental Biochemistry and Physiology. Editor: PETER W. HOCHACHKA
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Malayan Animal Life. Longman Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. First published in 1954. Reprinted 1965, 1970 & 1988. 237 pages.

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