- Punctum boreale Pilsbry & Hirase 1905: 717.
- Paralaoma servilis of authors, non Helix servilis Shuttleworth 1852: 140.
- Paralaoma conspectum of authors, non Helix conspectum Bland 1865: 163, fig. 7.
- Paralaoma caputspinulae of authors, non Helix caputspinulae Reeve 1852 (1851–1854): pl. 133, sp. 818.
Identification. Shell depressed-heliciform. Spire moderately elevated, conical. Sutures deep. Whorls c. 4, shouldered; periphery above middle of last whorl. Protoconch 1½ whorls, with weak spiral striae on latter part. Teleoconch with narrow, widely spaced colabral riblets, weaker on base, with usually 5, 6, or more fine colabral threads between riblets; colabral threads beaded by spiral striae. Aperture rounded-lunate, wider than high, edentulous. Last whorl slightly descending above. Lip thin, simple but columellar lip expanded. Umbilicus c. 1/5 shell width. Shell yellowish or brownish olive. Shell width to 2.4 mm (wider than high).
Comparison. Paralaoma borealis is larger than Punctum species, and the colabral riblets have a greater number of intercalary threads. The shell of Planogyra clappi superficially similar, in having fine, thin colabral riblets, but the riblets are much more delicate and higher. Paralaoma servilis, which is very similar to P. borealis, is known from Washington and California, where it is introduced (Nekola et al. 2025).
Habitat. Often disturbed habitats such as roadsides and in parks and gardens, but other sites are remote and undisturbed. In leaf litter, under dead wood, and under rocks. Most often seen alive in cool weather.
Geographic range. This species is sporadic throughout BC. Hokkaido, northern Japan to Alaska, south to Idaho and southern California (Nekola et al. 2025), but there are many more records of Paralaoma spp. available from the western USA for which identifications need confirmation.
Etymology. Paralaoma: derived from the Greek prefix para-, beside or near to + Laoma J.E. Gray, 1850, a genus of punctoid land snails; the gender is feminine. Borealis (Latin), of the north.
Remarks. The taxonomy of this species has been confused for many years and has gone under several different names, including Punctum conspectum, now a junior synonym of Paralaoma servilis; Paralaoma caputspinulae, a species native to New Zealand and Lord Howe Island, Australia; and Paralaoma servilis, a widely introduced species known from the USA (including Washington and California), Australia, Europe, and several Atlantic islands (Nekola et al. 2025).
References
- Bland T (1865) Notes on certain terrestrial Mollusca, with descriptions of new species. Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York 8: 155–170. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.1867.tb00306.x
- Nekola JC, Brook FJ, Foon JK, Horsáková V, Ishii Y, Köhler F, Líznarová E, Nováková M, Saito T, Salvador RB, Horsák M (2025) Will the real invasive snail please stand up? A phylogenetic reconsideration of Paralaoma servilis (Shuttleworth, 1852) (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora: Punctidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 203: zlae142. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae142
- Pilsbry HA, Hirase Y (1905) New land mollusks of the Japanese Empire. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 57: 705–719.
- Reeve LA (1851–1854) Monograph of the genus Helix. Lovell Reeve, London, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.8129
- Shuttleworth RJ (1852) Diagnosen einiger neuen [sic] Mollusken aus den Canarischen Inseln. Mittheilungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Bern 1852: 137–146.