Land Snails

Photo(s): Three views of the low-spired shell Helicodiscus shimeki, © Jeff Nekola.
Illustrations © Kathy Schmidt from her series "Land Snails of New York State."

Click photo(s) to enlarge.

Helicodiscus shimeki (Hubricht, 1962)

Family: Helicodiscidae
Common name: Temperate Coil

Identification
Width: 4-5 mm
Height: 1.5-2 mm
Whorls: 5+

The overall shape of this species’ shell is a small disk with flattened (relatively) edges and an almost non-existent spire. Faint spiral striae, increasing in strength on later whorls, decorate the translucent, lustrous shell of Helicodiscus shimeki. The inner whorls are very narrow and increase gradually in size. The final whorl usually contains three pairs of small teeth on the inside of the outer and basal walls. The unusually shallow umbilicus is about half the diameter of the entire shell.

Ecology
This snail may be found in leaf litter in upland and other wooded areas. It prefers acidic environments, whether dry or damp (Hubricht, 1985; Nekola, 2008).

Taxonomy
No synonyms are known.

Distribution
Helicodiscus shimeki may be found throughout the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and adjacent eastern Canadian provinces. In the state of Virginia it is reported only from higher counties on the north-western West Virginia border.

Conservation
NatureServe Global Rank: G4/G5
NatureServe State Rank: Virginia, S1, Critically Imperiled
Virginia’s wildlife action plan: Tier IV

 

Meegan Winslow, Ken Hotopp 11/2012

Range Map (click to enlarge)