Land Snails

Photo(s): Gastrocopta clappi shell © Jeff Nekola.

Click photo(s) to enlarge.

Gastrocopta clappi (Sterki, 1909)

Family: Vertiginidae
Common name: Bluegrass Snaggletooth

Identification
Height: ~3.7 mm
Width: ~1.9 mm
Whorls: 6-7

This species and Gastrocopta armifera are easily distinguished by their tall, white-clear shells that are at least 3.5 mm tall. Gastrocopta clappi can be separated from the very similar G. armifera by its sheet or plate-shaped columellar lamella, which is more deeply inserted into the shell on its bottom side (Hubricht, 1972).

Ecology
Gastrocopta clappi is restricted to dry (xeric) limestone glades and grasslands, where it occurs around the base of grass clumps and under sparse vegetation and rock slabs.

Taxonomy
Synonyms for this animal’s name include Gastrocopta armifera clappi.

Distribution
This animal has one of the most limited ranges for any North American pupillid land snail, being known only from west of the Blue Ridge from western Virginia and Alabama, to central Kentucky and the Nashville Basin in Tennessee (Nekola & Coles, 2010). In Virginia this species is limited to cedar glade habitats in the far western counties. Museum records north of western Virginia warrant verification.

Conservation
NatureServe Global Rank: G4/G5, Secure.
NatureServe State Global Rank: Virginia, S1S2,Iimperiled.
Virginia’s wildlife action plan: Tier III

 

Jeff Nekola 9/2012

Range Map (click to enlarge)