Land Snails
Photo(s): Views of a Oxychilus alliarius shell
Click photo(s) to enlarge.
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Oxychilus alliarius (Dourson, 2015)
Family: Oxychilidae
Common name: Garlic Glass-snail
Identification
Width: 5-7 mm
Height: 3.5-4 mm
Whorls: 4-4.5
This non-native snail’s shell is a depressed heliciform shape, with a glossy, pale yellowish-brown or greenish color. Oxychilus alliarius is umbilicate with no teeth at any stage of growth. A unique identifying characteristic is the garlic-like odor emitted when the snail is threatened. The animal is blackish blue.
Ecology
Oxychilus alliarius is found in disturbed areas – yards, gardens, and roadsides, degraded habitats and abandoned lots. It is tolerant of poor acidic soils (Kearney and Cameron, 1979). In the Hawaiian Islands it is found on leaf litter, on mossy rocks, on the bark of logs, and under rocks (Howarth, 2003).
Taxonomy
Originally named Helix alliaria by J. S. Miller in 1822. No other synonyms are reported.
Distribution
Native to central and western Europe, Iceland, and Greenland; introduced to northeastern North America, Colorado, Pacific Coast states, and Hawaiian Islands, as well as various other temperate regions of the world.
Conservation
NatureServe Global Rank: G5, Apparently secure.
NatureServe State Ranks: Pennsylvania, E; New York, E; New Jersey, E.
Dan Dourson 5/2017
RANGE MAP (Click to enlarge)
