Identification. Shell depressed-globose. Spire conical, sides slightly convex. Periphery rounded, medial. Whorls c. 5–6, convex. Suture moderately indented. Protoconch c. 1½ whorls, initially smooth, then granular. Teleoconch with low, coarse, irregular striae, wrinkled below suture, and fine, shallow spiral lines. Aperture subovate-lunate, wider than high. Apertural denticle in adults: parietal tooth long, curved. Umbilicus small, c. 1/12 of W, almost entirely overhung by columellar lip. Shell opaque, semi-matte, yellowish brown; lip and parietal denticle whitish. Shell toc. 19–26 mm wide (wider than high).
Comparison. This species is most like C. mullani but with a more raised spire.
Habitat. Unknown for BC but moist, lowland forests below 600 ft [180 m] in the USA (Vagvolgyi 1968).
Geographic range. Historically known in BC from Sumas Prairie in the Fraser Valley (Dall 1905) and Esquimalt on Vancouver Island (Taylor 1889), and more generally “Vancouver’s Island” (Pfeiffer 1850). Extreme south-western BC, south through western Washington to the Columbia Gorge, Oregon (Pilsbry 1940; Vagvolgyi 1968).
Etymology. Cryptomastix: derived from the Greek kryptos, hidden + mastix, flagellum. Devius (Latin), solitary or out of the way.
Remarks. This species was first reported from what was to become BC by Pfeiffer (1850), and it has not been seen alive in BC for many years and is presumed extirpated (COSEWIC 2002, 2013).
References
COSEWIC (2002) COSEWIC assessment and status report on the Puget Oregonian snail Cryptomastix devia in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, vi + 20 pp.
COSEWIC (2013) COSEWIC Status Appraisal Summary on the Puget Oregonian Cryptomastix devia in Canada. COSEWIC, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, xv pp.
Dall WH (1905) Land and fresh water mollusks. Alaska Harriman Expedition. Volume 13. Doubleday, Page and Co., New York, New York, USA, 1–171, pls.
Pfeiffer L (1850) Descriptions of twenty-four new species of Helicea, from the collection of H. Cuming, Esq. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London for 1849 17: 126–131.
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.
Taylor GW (1889) The land shells of Vancouver Island. The Ottawa Naturalist 3: 84–94.
Vagvolgyi J (1968) Systematics and evolution of the genus Triodopsis (Mollusca: Pulmonata: Polygyridae). Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Bulletin 136: 145–254.
Identification. Shell subglobose. Spire elevated, conical. Whorlsc. 4½, convex. Periphery rounded. Protoconch smooth. Teleoconch with weak, raised colabral threads, fine spiral striae, and weak malleations. Aperture nearly rounded, without teeth. Last whorl descending when shell full grown. Lip in adults not much thickened but strongly expanded. Umbilicus closed by the broadly expanded lip, or rarely a narrow cleft. Shell opaque, straw-yellow or pale brown with darker brown spiral bands interrupted with irregular pale streaks; lip white. Width to 32 mm (higher than wide).
Comparison.Helixpomatiais larger and banded but without the distinctive pale markings.
Habitat. In BC, in warm places in gardens, along roads, and on vacant, disturbed ground.
Geographic range. This species is introduced to southern BC. It is known to occur on Vancouver Island in Greater Victoria, several mid-island cities, such as Nanaimo, Parksville, and Port Alberni (unpublished), and north to Campbell River (iNaturalist), as well as Salt Spring Island and Metro Vancouver (Forsyth 2004b). This species was first reported from BC by Forsyth (1999). In the USA,
Cornu aspersum is native to the Mediterranean region. Seven clades and origins of c. a. aspersum in North Africa (Sherpa et al. 2018). This differs from the earlier conclusion of Guiller & Madec (2010) who hypothesized a European origin (Tyrrhenian) and spread north in Europe over millennia.
Etymology. Cornu (Latin), a horn. The gender is neuter.Aspersum (Latin), speckled.
Remarks. Although in the past placed in the genus Helix, morphological characters and molecular data show that C. aspersum is not that closely related to the genus Helix, but rather to other genera outside of the tribe Helicini (Nieber et al. 2022; Razkin et al. 2015).
As a large, common European species, with a complex biographical history, and importance as a food item in some countries, the genetics of C. aspersum has received much attention. The complete mitochondrial genome ofc. aspersum was published by Gaitán et al. (2013), and the genetic structure of populations of this species in Europe was studied by Guiller & Madec (2010). Genetic data points to distinct subspecies. Presumably, BC snails belong to the nominotypical subspecies, C. a. aspersum, which is the common, widespread subspecies over most of Western Europe (Sherpa et al. 2018) and the one known to be introduced to North America and other continents (Kougiagka et al. 2022).
References
Forsyth RG (1999) Distributions of nine new or little-known exotic land snails in British Columbia. The Canadian Field-Naturalist 113: 559–568. https://doi.org/10.5962/p.358656
Forsyth RG (2004) Land Snails of British Columbia. Royal BC Museum, Victoria, BC, Canada, iv, 188 pp.
Gaitán-Espitia JD, Nespolo RF, Opazo JC (2013) The complete mitochondrial genome of the land snail Cornu aspersum (Helicidae: Mollusca): intraspecific divergence of protein-coding genes and phylogenetic considerations within Euthyneura. PLoS ONE 8(6): e67299. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0067
Guiller A, Madec L (2010) Historical biogeography of the land snail Cornu aspersum: a new scenario inferred from haplotype distribution in the Western Mediterranean basin. BMC Evolutionary Biology 10: 18. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-10-18
Razkin O, Gómez-Moliner BJ, Prieto CE, Martínez-Ortí A, Arrébola JR, Muñoz B, Chueca LJ, Madeira MJ (2015) Molecular phylogeny of the Western Palaearctic Helicoidea (Gastropoda, Stylommatophora). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 83: 99–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2014.11.014
Sherpa S, Ansart A, Madec L, Martin M-C, Dréano S, Guiller A (2018) Refining the biogeographical scenario of the land snail Cornu aspersum aspersum: natural spatial expansion and human-mediated dispersal in the Mediterranean basin. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 120: 218-232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2017.12.018
Kougiagka E, Gkafas GA, Exadactylos A, Hatziioannou M (2022) Morphology and genetic structure profile of farmed snails Cornu aspersum aspersum and Cornu aspersum maximum in Greece. Sustainability 14: 15965. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142315965
Müller OF (1774) Vermium terrestrivm et fluviatilium, seu animalium infusorium, helminthicorum, et testaceorum, non marinorum, succincta historia. Volumen alterum: testacea. Heineck & Faber, Havniæ & Lipsiæ, xxxvi + 214 + [x] pp. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.46299
Neiber MT, Korábek O, Glaubrecht M, Hausdorf B (2022) A misinterpreted disjunction: the phylogenetic relationships of the North African land snail Gyrostomella (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora: Helicidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 194: 1236–1251. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab059
Razkin O, Gómez-Moliner BJ, Prieto CE, Martínez-Ortí A, Arrébola JR, Muñoz B, Chueca LJ, Madeira MJ (2015) Molecular phylogeny of the western Palaearctic Helicoidea (Gastropoda, Stylommatophora). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 83: 99–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2014.11.014
Helix pomatia, from Montrose, BC. Shell height: 38.6 mm.
Helix pomatia Linnaeus 1758: 771.
Identification. Shell subglobose. Spire elevated, conical. Whorls c. 4–5, convex. Periphery rounded, medial on last whorl. Protoconch smooth. Teleoconch with irregular, low colabral ridges/riblets and spiral rows of weak granules. Aperture large, subovate-rounded, inside showing external shell colour, without teeth. Last whorl descending when shell full-grown. Lip not scarcely thickened in adults, narrowly flared outward, more expanded near columella. Umbilicus a narrow cleft. Shell opaque, pale grey-white, with lighter and darker, brownish colabral streaks and, in general, 2–5 spiral chestnut-brown bands (sometimes rather weakly marked or absent; band nearest periphery darkest and broadest); near inner edge of outer lip and columellar lip pale pinkish brown. Width to 42 mm (higher than wide).
Comparison. The large, globular shell is unlike any other species in BC. Cornu aspersum is somewhat smaller, with spiral bands having a distinctive pattern paler markings in colabral bands. Cepaea nemoralis is smaller, less globular, and with an aperture that is not so equal in height and width, and the palatal lip in that species is dark, purplish brown.
Biology. During aestivation and hibernation, this species may seal its aperture with a calcareous epiphragm.
Habitat. In BC, this species is known to inhabit gardens.
Geographic range. Helix pomatia is introduced to southern BC. It was first reported in BC by Forsyth & Kamstra (2019), who reported it from Melrose (near Trail) and Revelstoke, based on specimens collected in 2014 and 2015. Since then, more observations of this species have been made available on iNaturalist. Elsewhere in Canada, this species is known from Sarnia, Ontario (Forsyth & Kamstra 2019). In the USA, it was first reported from Michigan in 1937 (Archer 1937; Pilsbry 1939), and is now known from Wisconsin, New York, Massachusetts, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Florida, and California (GBIF 2017; NatureServe 2019).
Native to Central and Southern Europe, H. pomatia now occurs north to Scandinavia and through Western Europe to England (Neubert 2014). It also has been introduced east in Europe to at least Moscow, Russia (Sysoev & Schileyko 2009). Introduced to other continents.
Etymology. Helix (Latin), a snail. The gender is feminine. Poma (Greek), a lid (Kennard & Woodward 1926), perhaps in reference to the calcified epiphragm used to close the aperture during times of aestivation or hibernation.
References
Archer AF (1937) Helix pomatia Linné in Jackson, Michigan. The Nautilus 51: 61–63.
Forsyth RG, Kamstra J (2019) Roman Snail, Helix pomatia (Mollusca: Helicidae), in Canada. The Canadian Field-Naturalist 133: 156–159. https://doi.org/10.22621/v133i2.2150
Kennard AS, Woodward BB (1926) Synonymy of the British non-marine Mollusca (Recent and post-Tertiary). British Museum (Natural History), London, United Kingdom, xxiv + 447 pp.
Linnaeus C (1758) Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii, Holmiæ, [4] + 824 https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.542
Neubert E (2014) Revision of Helix Linnaeus, 1758 in its eastern Mediterranean distribution area, and reassignment of Helix godetiana Kobelt, 1878 to Maltzanella Hesse, 1917 (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Helicidae). Contributions to Natural History 26: 1–200.
Pilsbry HA (1939) Land Mollusca of North America (north of Mexico). Volume I, Part 1. The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Monographs 3: i–xvii + 1–573 + i–ix.
Sysoev A, Schileyko A (2009) Land snails and slugs of Russia and adjacent countries. Pensoft, Sofia, Bulgaria, 212 pp. + 142 pl.
Identification. Shell obese-fusiform. Spire elongate, with strongly convex sides. Apex bluntly pointed. Whorls c. 4, convex. Sutures rather well indented. Protoconch smooth. Teleoconch with weak incremental striae initially, regular, colabral striae on last two whorls. Aperture subovate; 1 parietal lamella, continuing internally around columella in a smooth, not undulating curve; 1 smaller lamella at base of columella. Adult lip expanded, a little recurved, thickened on inner side, especially medially on palatal lip. Belly of the last whorl projected beyond the plane of peristome. Chink-like “false umbilicus” against base of last whorl. Shell translucent, colourless when fresh, opaque, and white when dead. Shell to 1.9 mm high (higher than wide).
The animal’s body in unpigmented, white, with black eye spots behind the single pair of cylindrical tentacles (Adam 1960; Roth 1982).
Comparison. Among Carychium species in BC, this species is recognized by its faintly striate, stouter shell, having fewer whorls and a greatly thickened palatal lip which bears a prominent medial denticle. The aperture is relatively larger portion of the shell height than in the other Carychium species in BC. The internal lamella is regularly spiral, which is not the case inC. tridentatum.
Habitat. This species lives in permanently wet habitats. In BC, in occurs in dead vegetation and under driftwood and logs along the tidal shoreline of the Fraser River, and it was found under flowerpots and other objects in a well-watered garden centre on Vancouver Island (Forsyth 2004b). It should be expected in wet areas of gardens, such as found in the tree-fern garden in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California (Roth 1982). At Ithaca, New York, populations were in a seep near a lake and in the riparian zone of a creek (Weigand & Jochum 2010).
In Europe, typical habitats of C. minimum include edges of swamps and in wet woods, floodplain meadows, and dune slacks (Germain 1931; Kerney 1999), and this species occurs at elevations up to 1,000 m in the Alpes (Germain 1931). Geographic range. Native to the Western Palaearctic. Introduced to BC, this species was first found in a nursery in Cobble Hill, Vancouver Island (Forsyth 2004b). Only later, was it discovered living naturalised along the Fraser River estuary in Richmond (Forsyth 2015). It is expected that this species occurs more generally in suitably wet habitats in BC. Elsewhere in Canada,C. minimum has been introduced to Ontario (Grand River, Brant County; Port Whitby, Durham Region) and New Brunswick (Mactaquac Lake, a broadening of the Saint John River) (Forsyth 2015; unpublished data); it has also been reported from California (Roth 1982), New York (Forsyth 2015; Weigand & Jochum 2016); Massachusetts (Clapp 1912; Winslow 1922), and Pennsylvania (Pearce and Payne 2011). It is likely more widely occurring in North American than presently known
Etymology. Carychium, from the Greek karyx, a herald, signifying the ancient use of a shell as a trumpet (Kennard & Woodward 1926); the gender is neuter. Minimum (Latin), least or smallest.
Remarks. In much of the older European literature, C. minimum and C. tridentatum were not distinguished from each other, or with the latter treated as a variety of the former; Watson & Verdcourt (1953) reviewed the history the use of these names. However, in the recent literature, these taxa have generally been treated as separate species, and this has been confirmed DNA barcoding by Weigand et al. (2010).
In another study, Weigand et al. (2012) investigated the population structure of C. minimum and found in Europe four distinct, genetically isolated phylogenetic units which are likely explained by refugial areas during glacial periods; a population in eastern North America was found to belong to the Central–Western Europe clade.
References
Adam W (1960) Mollusques. Tome 1, mollusques terrestres et dulcicoles. Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Bruxelles, 402 pp., 4 pls.
Clapp W (1912) Carychium minimum Mull. The Nautilus 26: 24.
Forsyth RG (2004) Land Snails of British Columbia. Royal BC Museum, Victoria, BC, Canada, iv, 188 pp.
Forsyth RG (2015) First record of Carychium minimum Müller, 1774 in New Brunswick, Canada (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Ellobioidea). Check List 11: 1511. https://doi.org/10.15560/11.1.1511
Germain L (1931) Faune de France 22. Mollusques terrestres et fluviatiles (deuxième partie). Paul Lechavalier, Paris, France, 479-897, i-xiv, pls 1-26 pp.
Kennard AS, Woodward BB (1926) Synonymy of the British non-marine Mollusca (Recent and post-Tertiary). British Museum (Natural History), London, United Kingdom, xxiv + 447 pp. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.8325
Kerney M (1999) Atlas of the land and freshwater molluscs of Britain and Ireland. Harley Books, Colchester, United Kingdom, 264 pp.
Müller OF (1774) Vermium terrestrivm et fluviatilium, seu animalium infusorium, helminthicorum, et testaceorum, non marinorum, succincta historia. Volumen alterum: testacea. Heineck & Faber, Havniæ & Lipsiæ, xxxvi + 214 + [x] pp. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.46299
Pearce TA, Payne SL (2011) European Carychium land snails in Pennsylvania. Tentacle 19: 13.
Roth B (1982) European land mollusks in the San Francisco Bay area, California: Carychium minimum Müller and the Arion hortensis complex. The Veliger 24: 342–344.
Watson H, Verdcourt B (1953) The two British species of Carychium. Journal of Conchology 23: 306–324, pls 9, 10.
Weigand AM, Jochum A, Pfenninger M, Steinke D, Klussman-Kolb A (2010) A new approach to an old conundrum—DNA barcoding sheds new light on phenotypic plasticity and morphological stasis in microsnails (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Carychiidae). Molecular Ecology 11: 255–265. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-0998.2010.02937.x
Weigand AM, Jochum A (2016) Mollusca, Gastropoda, Ellobioidea, Carychium minimum O.F. Müller, 1774: filling gaps. New population record for the State of New York, Northeastern United States. Check List 6: 517–518. https://doi.org/10.15560/6.4.517
Winslow ML (1922) Notes on the internal lamellae of Carychium. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan 128: 1–17.
Identification. Shell subdiscoidal, with spire slightly elevated. Whorls few, c. 3¼–3½. Periphery rounded. Aperture subrotund. Adult lip thickened within by an opaque rib-like callus, expanded and flat-faced. Umbilicus c. 1/3 of shell width. Protoconch usually with indistinct spiral threads (periostracal). Teleoconch with prominent mostly periostracal colabral ribs, c. 28–41 on last whorl; microscopic incremental striae. Shell with a silky sheen, greyish white. Width to c. 2.7 mm (wider than high).
Animal milky white with dark eyespots.
Comparison. This species closely resembles other ribbed Vallonia. From V. gracilicosta, it is distinguished by the fewer colabral ribs, which are, thus, more widely spaced, and the presence of weak spiral threads on the protoconch.
Habitat. In BC, V. costata is known from gardens and open anthropogenic habitats. Generally, it occurs in open, usually rather xeric, anthropogenic habitats, such as lawns, waste ground, roadsides, meadows, and unkempt gardens. It is a calciphile and is frequently associated with concrete structures and limestone in some area. Underneath rocks, debris, boards, dead wood, and vegetation.
Biology. Animals predominantly reproduce by self-fertilization several times during their lives, producing eggs are ellipsoid (mean length 0.69 mm), heavily calcified, and laid singly (Kuźnik-Kowalska & Proćków 2016). Under laboratory conditions, snails lived for c. 1–2⅓ years. During this time, shell growth is initially rapid, then slower, with the mature, thickened lip being completed 120 days on average after hatching, but in as few as 42 days (Kuźnik-Kowalska & Proćków 2016).
Geographic range. Introduced to BC and known only from Kamloops (Forsyth & Nicolai 2019), although it could be expected elsewhere but may be mistaken for another species. Elsewhere in Canada, V. costata is known from Alberta (rare) and southern Manitoba through southern Ontario and southern Quebec (common). There are a few records from New Brunswick. The Central Canadian and US populations may represent early introductions (Gerber 1996), and the remote and peripheral occurrences are almost certainly introduced. Indeed, it is possible that North American populations are entirely introduced (Nicolai & Forsyth 2019).
Widespread in Europe north to Scandinavia, south to North Africa, and scattered records east to Lake Baikal, Siberia (Gerber 1996); also reported from Israel, South Africa, and Australia (Gerber 1996).
Etymology. Vallonia: named after either for the Roman goddess of valleys, Vallonia (Pilsbry 1948), or perhaps after the town of Vallon, Ardèche, south-central France (Kennard & Woodward 1926); the gender is feminine. Costatus (Latin), ribbed.
References
Gerber J (1996) Revision der Gattung Vallonia Risso 1826 (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Valloniidae). Schriften zur Malakozoologie aus dem Haus der Natur—Cismar 8: 1–227.
Kennard AS, Woodward BB (1926) Synonymy of the British non-marine Mollusca (Recent and post-Tertiary). British Museum (Natural History), London, United Kingdom, xxiv + 447 pp. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.8325
Kuźnik-Kowalska E, Proćków M (2016) Reproductive biology and growth of two Vallonia species in laboratory conditions (Gastropoda: Eupulmonata: Valloniidae). Folia Malacologica 24: 265-273. https://doi.org/10.12657/folmal.024.022
Müller OF (1774) Vermium terrestrivm et fluviatilium, seu animalium infusorium, helminthicorum, et testaceorum, non marinorum, succincta historia. Volumen alterum: testacea. Heineck & Faber, Havniæ & Lipsiæ, xxxvi + 214 + [x] pp. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.46299
Nicolai A, Forsyth RG (2019) First record of Vallonia costata (O.F. Müller, 1774) (Gastropoda, Eupulmonata, Valloniidae) from British Columbia, Canada, confirmed by partial-COI gene sequence. Check List 15: 287–293. https://doi.org/10.15560/15.2.287
Pilsbry HA (1948) Land Mollusca of North America (north of Mexico), vol. II, part 2. The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Monographs 3: i–xlvii + 521–1113.
Planogyra clappi from Gray Bay, Moresby Island, Haida Gwaii, BC.; W: 1.9 mm.
Punctum clappi Pilsbry 1898: 133.
Identification. Shell subdiscoidal. Spire nearly flat. Whorls few, c. 3½. Suture deep. Periphery rounded. Aperture almost round. Lip thin, simple. Last whorl with scarcely a downwards deflection. Umbilicus broad, c. ¼ of shell width. Protoconch indistinctly, microscopically granular. Teleoconch sculpture prominent, erect, fragile, colabral periostracal ribs (but sometimes eroded off), c. 35 on last whorl; microscopic spiral striae, especially on base; microscopic incremental striae. Shell with a silky sheen, brown. Width to 2.2 mm (wider than high).
Animal translucent white; head and ocular tentacles grey.
Comparison. Shells of ribbed Vallonia spp. are superficially similar, but they are whitish and with a flared, usually thickened peristome in adults. Paralaoma borealis has a slightly larger shell, with a higher spire and narrower umbilicus, and colabral ribs which are numerous.
Habitat. This species lives in leaf litter in rich, moist areas in forests.
Geographic range. In BC, this species occurs from Haida Gwaii to Vancouver Island and the southern coastal mainland. It is expected from along the mainland North Coast, although there are no records from this area. It occurs in the wet southern interior mountains but is possibly rare there (Forsyth 2004b; Ovaska et al. 2010, 2020).
Alexander Archipelago, Alaska (unpublished data) and south to Trinity County (Klamath Mountains) and Mendocino County, California (Roth 1985; Roth & Sadeghian 2003); northern Idaho (Frest and Johannes 2001; Burke 2013).
Etymology. Planogyra: Planus (Latin), flat + gyros (Greek), whorl. The gender is masculine. Clappi: named after Dr George Hubbard Clapp (1858–1949), an American conchologist, numismatist, and early 20th century industrialist (Wikipedia).
Remarks. This species was first reported from BC as Punctum asteriscus by Taylor (1889), which, however, is an eastern North American species now known as Planogyra asteriscus (E.S. Morse, 1857). Pilsbry (1899) first recognized Vancouver Island specimens as P. clappi the year following his description (1898) of the species.
References
Burke TE (2013) Land snails and slugs of the Pacific Northwest. Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, Oregon, USA, 344 pp.
Forsyth RG (2004b) Land Snails of British Columbia. Royal BC Museum, Victoria, BC, Canada, iv, 188 pp.
Frest TJ, Johannes EJ (2001) An annotated checklist of Idaho land and freshwater mollusks. Journal of the Idaho Academy of Sciences 36: 1–51.
Ovaska K, Chichester L, Sopuck L (2010) Terrestrial gastropods from Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), British Columbia, Canada, including description of a new northern endemic slug (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora: Arionidae). The Nautilus 124: 25–33. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/50437639
Ovaska K, Sopuck L, Heron J (“2019” 2020) Surveys for terrestrial gastropods in the Kootenay region of British Columbia, with new records and range extensions. The Canadian Field-Naturalist 133: 221–234. https://doi.org/10.22621/cfn.v133i3.2287
Pilsbry HA (1899) Notes on a few northwest American land snails. Proceedings of The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 51: 314–315. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4062525
Roth B (1985) A new species of Punctum (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Punctidae) from the Klamath Mountains, California, and first Californian records of Planogyra clappi (Valloniidae). Malacological Review 18: 51–56.
Roth B, Sadeghian PS (2003) Checklist of the land snails and slugs of California. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Contributions in Science 3: 1–81.
Identification. Shell ovate-fusiform. Spire elongate, with sides slightly convex. Apex bluntly rounded. Whorls not very convex. Periphery rounded, medial. Suture shallowly indented, with false suture below. Aperture subovate, H > W, with angle above, edentulous. Adult lip thickened within by an opaque, pale pinkish or whitish callus ridge. Umbilicus absent. Protoconch smooth. Teleoconch sculpture almost smooth, with faint incremental lines only. Shell translucent, very glossy, yellowish or reddish brown. Height to 6.5 mm (higher than wide).
Animal grey, but head and tentacles darker grey or almost black.
Comparison. This is the perhaps the only Cochlicopa species in BC (but see Remarks) and, therefore, is unlikely to be confused with any other species of land snail. The spindle-shaped, very glossy shell is unique among land-snail species in the province. However, Cochlicopa species are conchologically quite similar.
Habitat. This species is most often found in disturbed habitats, such as in gardens, on waste ground, in pastures, and on roadsides; however, it does also occur in natural environments, including in BC, in forest openings, forest, and dunes; elsewhere it occurs in alvars, and arctic tundra. Snails are gregarious and live under debris, garbage, woody debris, concrete, and other debris, or in leaf litter. Occasionally, large numbers of snails have been seen amassing, such as one noted by the hundreds on an abandoned concrete building foundation at Okanagan Centre (Pilsbry 1946).
Geographic range. In BC, widespread over all the province but particularly common in the south. In Canada, known from every province and territory except for Nunavut.
Biology. Self-fertilization is the main breeding system in Cochlicopa (Armbruster & Schlegel 1994).
Etymology. Cochlicopa: derived from kochlias (Greek), a snail shell + kopto (Greek), to cut; the gender is feminine. Lubrica (Latin), slippery.
Remarks. Pilsbry (1948) recognized a subspecies, Cionella lubrica morseana Doherty, 1878, which is now generally considered a separate species following Hubricht (1985) and others. No subspecies are currently recognized.
Occasionally, among the many specimens from BC, there are smaller and more slender than “normal” C. lubrica and have the appearance of C. lubricella (Porro, 1838). Whether such shells represent a species other than C. lubrica is unknown. Pilsbry (1948) did not recognize C. lubricella in North America, and Hubricht (1985) was among the first to use this name for North American snails. However, in Europe shells classified as C. lubricella by their shape and size belong to two paraphyletic taxa which are genetically distinct (Armbruster 1997), but one of these conchologically lubricella-like taxa is genetically indistinguishable from C. lubrica. Although Giusti and Manganelli (1992) discussed the limitations of identifying Cochlicopa species by morphological means, and molecular evidence points to the inability to discern biological species by their shell morphology (Armbruster 1997), most authors continue to use morphological differences in shells to distinguish putative species of Cochlicopa (e.g. Welter-Schultes 2012). Genetic studies of North American Cochlicopa are needed.
One can speculate that some BC populations of Cochlicopa represent introductions, while others are native, but this is purely conjecture.
Pilsbry (1948) and most other American authors have used Cionella Jeffreys, 1829 as the genus for this species, but both Gittenberger (1983) and Roth (2003) have concluded that Cochlicopa A. Férussac, 1819 is correct.
References
Armbruster G (1997) Evaluations of RAPD markers and allozyme patterns: Evidence for morphological convergence in the morphotype of Cochlicopa lubricella (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Cochlicopidae). Journal of Molluscan Studies 63: 379–388.
Armbruster G, Schlegel M (1994) The land-snail species of Cochlicopa (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Cochlicopidae): presentation of taxon-specific allozyme patterns, and evidence for a high level of selffertilization. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 32: 282–296.
Gittenberger E (1983) On Iberian Cochlicopidae and the genus Cryptazeca (Gastropoda, Pulmonata). Zoologische Mededelingen 57: 301–320.
Giusti F, Manganelli G (1992) The problem of the species in malacology after clear evidence of the limits of morphological systematics. In: Gittenberger E, Goud J (Eds) Proceedings of the Ninth International Malacological Congress, Edinburgh, 31 August – 6 September 1986. Unitas Malacologica, Leiden, 153–172.
Hubricht L (1985) The distributions of the native land mollusks of the eastern United States. Fieldiana, Zoology (New Series) 24: i–viii, 1–191. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.3329
Müller OF (1774) Vermium terrestrivm et fluviatilium, seu animalium infusorium, helminthicorum, et testaceorum, non marinorum, succincta historia. Volumen alterum: testacea. Heineck & Faber, Havniæ & Lipsiæ, xxxvi + 214 + [x] pp. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.46299
Pilsbry HA (1946) A roundup of Cochlicopa lubrica. The Nautilus 60: 72.
Pilsbry HA (1948) Land Mollusca of North America (north of Mexico), 2(2). The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Monographs 3: i–xlvii + 521–1113 pp.
Roth B (2003) Cochlicopa Férussac, 1821, not Cionella Jeffreys, 1829; Cionellidae Clessin, 1879, not Cochlicopidae Pilsbry, 1900 (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Stylommatophora). The Veliger 46: 183–185.
Welter-Schultes F (2012) European Non-marine Molluscs, a Guide for Species Identification. Bestimmungsbuch für europäische Land- und Süsswassermollusken. Planet Poster Editions, Göttingen, [3] + 679 + [78] pp.
Aegopinella nitidula, from Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver, BC.
Helix nitidula Draparnaud [1805]: 117.
Other synonyms in Europe.
Identification. Shell flattened, subdiscoid, with low rounded spire. Whorls 3½–4½, convex; whorls rapidly enlarging; in apical view, last whorl decidedly broader than penultimate whorl. Periphery rounded, medial. Protoconch smooth. Teleoconch smoothish with inconspicuous fine spiral striae that cross minute colabral striae to form a microscopically reticulate sculpture. Aperture subovate, moderately oblique, edentulous, wider than high. Lip thin, simple. Umbilicus relatively wide, c. 1/4.5 of shell width. Shell thin, nearly opaque, with a waxy lustre (not glossy); reddish amber-brown but with milky-whitish area around umbilicus. Width to c. 6–11 mm (wider than high).
Animal dark bluish grey, paler on sides and tail; sole pale. Tentacles blue-black.
Comparison. Shells of Oxychilus are glossier and without the minute reticulate sculpture of A. nitidula. Under strong magnification, the shell of A. nitidula has microscopic spiral striae that are absent in Oxychilus shells. Under strong magnification, the shell of A. nitidula has microscopic spiral striae that are absent in Oxychilus shells. Zonitoides species are also similar, but spiral striae in Z. arboreus are much weaker, scarcely visible with standard magnification, and spiral striae are absent in in Z. nitidus.
Geographic range. This species is introduced to BC, where it is known from Metro Vancouver (Forsyth et al. 2001). Although Dall (1905) reported “Retinella nitidula” from Great Slave Lake, NWT, this seems likely in error (Forsyth et al. 2001) for, perhaps, Zonitoides nitidus, which he listed from the same locality. Strangely, it remains unknown from elsewhere in North America, although presumably it may have just been overlooked. Aegopinella nitidula is native to Western Europe, from southern Scandinavia to the Iberian Peninsula, and there are scattered occurrences in Eastern Europe, east to Ukraine (Welter-Schultes 2012).
Habitat. In BC, A. nitidula is a synanthrope, living in mature, unkempt gardens and places where garden waste is dumped, such as vacant lots and roadside areas. In lives in leaf litter and under dead wood, dense vegetation such as ivy, stones, and garbage.
Biology. A. nitidula is omnivorous, eating mostly dead plant material but also preying on small snails and slugs, earthworms, and other small invertebrates. This species has a biennial life cycle, maturing and breeding in the summer following its second winter (Mordan 1978).
Etymology. Aegopinella is derived from the land-snail genus Aegopis and the Latin diminutive suffix –ella; Aegopis may mean “goat meadow” (Forsyth 2004), but this is not certain. The gender is feminine. The species epithet is derived from nitidus is Latin, meaning shining, with the diminutive suffix –ula added.
Remarks. See Welter-Schultes (2012) regarding the availability of the name Helix nitidula Draparnaud, 1805.
Aegopinella nitidula, at Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver, BC. Younger snail, not full grown.
References
Dall WH (1905) Land and fresh water mollusks. Doubleday, Page and Co., New York, New York, USA, 1–171, pp.
Draparnaud J-P-R ([1805]) Histoire naturelle des Mollusques terrestres et fluviatiles de France, ouvrage posthume. Louis Colas, Paris, 164 pp., 13 pls. pp. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.12856
Forsyth RG, Hutchinson JMC, Reise H (2001) Aegopinella nitidula (Draparnaud, 1805) (Gastropoda: Zonitidae) in British Columbia—first confirmed North American record. American Malacological Bulletin 16: 65–69.
Mordan PB (1978) The life cycle of Aegopinella nitidula (Draparnaud) (Pulmonata: Zonitidae) at Monks Wood. Journal of Conchology 29: 247–252.
Welter-Schultes F (2012) European Non-marine Molluscs, a Guide for Species Identification. Bestimmungsbuch für europäische Land- und Süsswassermollusken. Planet Poster Editions, Göttingen, [3] + 679 + [78] pp.
Lauria cylindracea, from Page Lagoon, Nanaimo, BC..
[Turbo] cylindraceous [sic] Mendes Da Costa 1778: 89; corrected cylindraceus in errata.
Identification. Shell subcylindrical to subovate, with apex bluntly rounded. Spire tall, sides convex. Whorls c. 5–6, sides not very convex. Suture rather shallow. Protoconch smooth. Teleoconch with weak incremental lines/wrinkles. Aperture subovate. Angular denticle narrow, slightly curved, and pointed, typically connected to upper insertion of lip by a callus and continuing for c. ½ whorl inwards. Juveniles with parietal and columellar spiral lamellae, fully internal, radiating basal denticles. Lip expanded, recurved in adults. Umbilicus small, rounded. Shell subtranslucent, pale brown; lip whitish. Height to 4.1 mm (higher than wide).
Animal grey, paler on the sides and sole of foot, and with darker head and tentacles (Reeve 1863; Barker 1999). When crawling, the tail is short and not extending behind the shell (Barker 1999).
Comparison. The shells of juveniles are unique among land snails of BC in bearing lamellae within the whorls. Adults are readily recognized from Vertigo species by their larger size, unique angular denticle, and especially thick lip. Lauria cylindracea is most like Pupilla species, but it differs in the having an angular denticle, among other things.
Habitat. In some areas of BC, this species is abundant in gardens (especially unkempt ones), on waste ground, and in adjacent wooded areas. Snails live in leaf litter and under vegetation, including ivy, on dead wood, stones, and concrete debris and bricks, lumber, and other debris (Forsyth 1999, 2004).
Biology. This species is ovoviviparous and usually four embryos develop within each adult. During times of drought, the release of young may be delayed, presumably to afford protection of the young, such as from desiccation (Heller et al. 1997). During dry periods, snails use mucus to seal the aperture of their shell onto hard surfaces. This species is relatively long-lived for a small snail; in Israel, snails reached maturity in their second winter and lived for about 4–5 years (Heller et al. 1997; Arad et al. 1998). Aphally is unknown in this species, in contrast to many other species within the Orthurethra.
Geographic range. In BC, this species now occurs along southern and south-eastern Vancouver Island (north to at least Nanaimo), the Gulf Islands, and Greater Vancouver, east in the Fraser Valley to Abbotsford and Chilliwack. This species was first recorded in the late 1980s and early 1990s (Holm 1988, 1994) and was soon found at many more places around the southern Strait of Georgia region (Forsyth 1999). There is an early record from Sardis, near Chilliwack (Holm 1988). (See also Observations · iNaturalist)
Western Palaearctic: Europe and the Mediterranean region east to the Caucasus and Turkey, Israel, Ukraine including Crimea; Transcaucasia and possibly Daghestan and West Köpet Dagh (Welter-Schultes 2012; Sysoev & Schileyko 2009). Introduced to South Africa, several Atlantic islands, Reunion Island, New Zealand, and BC.
Etymology. Lauria (Latin): probably named in honour of John Edward Gray’s niece, Laura Gray (Kennard & Woodward 1926); the gender is feminine. Cylindracea (Latin): cylindrical or approaching a cylindrical form.
Remarks. The genus Lauria, when used in a broader sense, is divided into several subgenera. No subgenus is used here for L. cylindracea,as these taxa are frequently regarded by as distinct genera (e.g. Schileyko 1998), and L. cylindracea belongs to Lauria sensu stricto (it is the type species).
References
Arad Z, Goldenberg S, Heller J (1998) Short- and long-term resistance to desiccation in a minute litter-dwelling land snail Lauria cylindracea (Pulmonata: Pupillidae). Journal of Zoology 246: 75-81. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1998.tb00134.x
Barker GM (1999) Naturalised terrestrial Stylommatophora (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Fauna of New Zealand/Ko te Aitanga Pepeke o Aotearoa 38: 1–253. https://doi.org/10.7931/J2/fnz.38
Forsyth RG (1999) Distributions of nine new or little-known exotic land snails in British Columbia. The Canadian Field-Naturalist 113: 559–568. https://doi.org/10.5962/p.358656
Forsyth RG (2004b) Land Snails of British Columbia. Royal BC Museum, Victoria, BC, Canada, iv, 188 pp.
Heller J, Sivan N, Hodgson AN (1997) Reproductive biology and population dynamics of an ovoviviparous land snail, Lauria cylindracea (Pupillidae). Journal of Zoology 243: 263-280. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1997.tb02781.x
Holm GP (1988) Lauria cylindracea (Da Coata) [sic] a new introduced species to North America. Dredgings 28: 5, 8.
Holm GP (1994) A second find of Lauria cylindracea. Dredgings 34: 3–5.
Kennard AS, Woodward BB (1926) Synonymy of the British non-marine Mollusca (Recent and post-Tertiary). British Museum (Natural History), London, United Kingdom, xxiv + 447 pp. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.8325
Mendes Da Costa E (1778) Historia naturalis testaceorum Britanniæ, or, the British conchology; containing the descriptions and other particulars of natural history of the shells of Great Britain and Ireland: illustrated with figures. In English and French. . Millan, White, Emsley & Robson, London, xii + 254 + vii + [1] p., 17 pl.
Reeve L (1863) The land and freshwater mollusks indigenous to, or naturalized in, the British Isles. Reeve & Co., London, United Kingdom, xx, 1 map, 275 pp.
Schileyko AA (1998) Treatise on Recent terrestrial pulmonate molluscs. Part 1: Achatinellidae, Amastridae, Orculidae, Strobilopsidae, Spelaeodiscidae, Valloniidae, Cochlicopidae, Pupillidae, Chondrinidae, Pyramidulidae. Ruthenica Supplement 2: 1–128.
Sysoev A, Schileyko A (2009) Land snails and slugs of Russia and adjacent countries. Pensoft, Sofia, Bulgaria, 212 pp. + 142 pls.
