Land Snails

Photos: Image not available at this time

Opeas pumilum (Pfeiffer, 1840) (non-native)

Family: Subulinidae
Common name: Dwarf Awlsnail

Identification
Width: 1.9-2.0 mm
Height: 5.3-7.0 mm
Whorls: 6.5

A conical shell with a rounded aperture having a partially reflected lip (Pilsbry, 1946; Kerney and Cameron, 1979). The final whorl is approximately half the shell length. The shell sculpture is densely striate in an arcuate pattern, diagnostic of the species.

Ecology
Opeas pumilum lives in leaf litter, grazing algae, fungi, or detritus (Willig et al., 2013). In greenhouses in New York State, densities of live animals and shells in mulch reached nearly 1,000/m2, though the snails did not damage the roses propagated in the greenhouses (Karlin, 1956).

Taxonomy
Helix goodalli, Opeas goodalli, and Bulimus pumilus are synonyms (Pilsbry, 1946).

Distribution
Tropical Central America. Introduced into Europe and the U.S. South, Midwest, and East in greenhouses and gardens.

Conservation
NatureServe Explorer rank: G5, Secure.

 

Ken Hotopp 11/2017

Range Map (click to enlarge)