Land Snails

Photo(s): Shell views of Punctum blandianum © Dan Dourson.

Click photo(s) to enlarge.

Punctum blandianum (Pilsbry, 1900)

Family: Punctidae
Common name: Brown Spot

Identification
Width: ≈1.1-1.3 mm
Height: ≈0.7 mm
Whorls: 4+

The shell of Punctum blandianum has a low conoidal spire and is pale brown (Pilsbry, 1948). It is thin-lipped, with a bowl-like umbilicus. The shell is sculptured with fine ribs. In many respects it is similar to P. minutissimum, but its shell is relatively lower, its umbilicus slightly wider, and its aperture slightly smaller.

Ecology
Punctum blandianum is found in damp leaf litter in forests. In dolomite valleys within its range it displaces P. minutissimum (Pilsbry, 1948).

Distribution
This animal is endemic to the southern Appalachian Mountains, found in a half-dozen states from West Virginia to Alabama. In Virginia it is reported in several southwestern counties. Its name has no synonyms.

NatureServe Global Rank: G4
NatureServe State Rank: S2S4

 

Ken Hotopp 1/2013

Range Map (click to enlarge)