- Helix columbiana I. Lea 1839: 89, pl. 23, fig. 75.
Identification.Shell subglobose-heliciform. Spire conical, low. Whorls 5–6, rather closely coiled, convex. Suture well-impressed. Periphery rounded, medial on last whorl. Protoconch with a few curved radial ripples then finely granular. Teleoconch with weak, irregular incremental wrinkles, fine wrinkling, and fine granulation. Periostracum with short, densely spaced, erect hairs (not always persisting in adults); when hairs worn off, scars evident in places. Last whorl descends a little to the adult lip. Aperture subovate-lunate, wider than high. No denticles in aperture. Lip expanded, not recurved, thin-edged, contracted behind. Umbilicus small, narrow, partially obscured by the lip. Shell rather thin, matte, usually dark brown or paler, honey-brown without animal; expanded lip whitish or pale brown-cream. Shell to 10–17 mm wide (wider than high).
Animal tan to light grey-brown, usually with ocular tentacles darker. Dark blotches are visible through the shell wall in living animals.
Comparison. The hairy periostracum, which is usually but not always retained in adults, is distinctive among land snails in BC, with only Micranepsia germana also having hairs on the periostracum. In V. columbianus, the hairs are slightly shorter and much more closely spaced than in M. germana; with this knowledge and some practice, even juveniles of these two species can be told apart.
Habitat. In dry to wet forests, or sometimes in grassy, open seaside habitats; under logs and rocks, around Sword Ferns, and other shelter. Crawling in the open during wet weather.
Geographic range. Along the entire BC coast, but there are occurrences extending inland up the valleys where moist Pacific air penetrates the mountains (Forsyth 2002). It is possibly rare in the wet interior mountains of south-eastern BC.
Unalaska Island, Alaska, to Oregon (Roth & Miller 1993). Burke’s (2013) geographic ranges of Vespericola species seem confused (see Remarks).
Etymology. Vespericola: derived from the Latin vesper, evening or west + colo, to inhabit; thus, “dwellers in the evening or west” (Pilsbry 1940: 892). The species was named after the Columbia River.
Remarks. Isaac Lea (1839) described this species in a paper was read before the American Philosophical Society over several years. According to Tryon (1861), the part containing the description of Helix columbiana was read on 4 November 1838, but the pages of the Transactions in which it was printed did not appear until 1839. The correct date would appear to be 1839 unless there were separate pamphlets issued at the time of reading (It is not known that was the case), which would otherwise render the name available from 1838.
In addition to the nominotypical subspecies, Pilsbry (1940) recognized four additional subspecies, but most of these are now believed to be full species (Roth & Miller 1993). Some authors have called hairy-shelled Vespericola from Alaska to Washington V. columbiana pilosa [sic] under the false impression that adult V. columbianus lack periostracal hairs. However, Roth & Miller (1993) found anatomical characters as well as subtle conchological characters to distinguish V. pilosus, a central Californian species, from northern Vespericola, and used V. columbianus for these northern populations. The only subspecies not removed and elevated to full species yet are V. columbianus depressus (Pilsbry & Henderson, 1936) and V. columbianus latilabrum Pilsbry, 1940. Vespericola columbianus depressus, from the Columbia Gorge (Oregon/Washington)was said by Frest & Johannes (1995) to be likely a separate species on account of conchological and anatomical differences (but with the details of the latter never published). The very much more expanded palatal lip of V. columbianus latilabrum is suggestive that is could also be a separate species.
Burke’s (2013) accounts of Vespericola north of the Canada–USA border seem confused. He indicated that “V. columbianus spp.”, with periostracal hairs persistent in adults, occurs in BC and wrote that it is the taxon previously known (i.e. Pilsbry 1940) as “V. columbiana pilosa”. He seems to have ignored some of the findings of Roth & Miller (1993) who found the absence/presence of periostracal hairs to be not taxonomically significant, and that they identified specimens from Prince Rupert, Haida Gwaii, Port Hardy, and the Fraser Valley as V. columbianus. Moreover, Burke’s (2013) maps of “Vespericola columbianus columbiana” (with periostracal hairs usually lost in adults) and V. columbianus latilabrum show that these species also extend into BC, although this is contrary to his what he wrote in the text.
The gender of the name Vespericola has been treated as either feminine or masculine by authors. Roth & Miller (1993) treated the name as masculine, in agreement with the first part of Article 30.1.4.2 of the Code (ICZN 1999). Although Pilsbry (1940) considered Vespericola to be feminine, he gave no indication of its gender when he proposed the name (Pilsbry 1939: xvii).
References
- Burke TE (2013) Land snails and slugs of the Pacific Northwest. Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, Oregon, USA, 344 pp.
- Forsyth RG (2002 “2001”) New records of land snails from the mountains of northwestern British Columbia. The Canadian Field-Naturalist 115: 223–228. https://doi.org/10.5962/p.363781
- Frest TJ, Johannes EJ (1995) Interior Columbia Basin mollusk species of special concern. Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project, Walla Walla, Washington, USA, 274 pp.
- ICZN (1999) International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, Fourth Edition. The International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, London, UK, pp. https://code.iczn.org/
- Lea I (1839 “1838”) Description of new freshwater and land shells. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society (new series) 6: 1–154, pls 1–24. https://doi.org/10.2307/1005319
- Pilsbry HA (1940) Land Mollusca of North America (north of Mexico), Volume I, Part 2. The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Monographs 3: i–viii + 1–994 + i–ix.
- Pilsbry HA (1946) Land Mollusca of North America (north of Mexico), vol. II, part 1. The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Monographs 3: frontispiece + i–vi + 1–520.
- Roth B, Miller WB (1993) Polygyrid land snails, Vespericola (Gastropoda: Pulmonata), 1. Species and populations formerly referred to Vespericola columbianus (Lea) in California. The Veliger 36: 134–144.
- Tryon GW, Jr (1861) List of American writers on Recent conchology with the titles of their memoirs and dates of publication. Baillière Brothers, New York, New York, USA, 68 pp.