Virginia Land Snails

Photo(s): Shells of Oxyloma effusum from Pilsbry (1948), with permission of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University.

Click photo(s) to enlarge.

Oxyloma effusum (Pfeiffer, 1853)

Family: Succineidae
Common name: Coastal-plain Ambersnail

Identification
Height: 10.5-19.5 mm
Width: 5.5-11.5 mm
Whorls: 2+

This snail has a fragile, oval-shaped shell that spirals outward rapidly – it consists mostly of the final whorl. The aperture is more than 4/5 of the entire shell length. The spire is very short but pointed, and the shell is very thin with faint radial striae.

Ecology
Oxyloma effusum can be found on the ground or on plants, including the underside of leaves of the emergent wetland plant called arrowhead (Hubricht, 1985).

Taxonomy
This animal has also been known as Oxyloma effusa and Succinea effusa.

Distribution
Oxyloma effusum ranges along the states of the east coast from New Jersey in the north to Florida in the south. In Virginia it is reported from western shore counties.

NatureServe Global Rank: G3
NatureServe State Rank: SNR

 

Meegan Winslow, Ken Hotopp 11/2012

Range Map