This species is sometimes called a "land winkle".[1]
Distribution
Presence of Pomatias elegans in European countries.
This species is very common in Southern Europe. Its overall distribution extends as far east as Istanbul and across the Bosphorus from there. It is uncommon in Britain and central Europe. Its distribution in North Africa is poorly documented.[2]
Description
The shell of this species is thick-walled, ovoid and slightly conical. It is composed of 4 ½ - 5 convex spires with the last one as the largest one. The surface of the shell is reticulated with dark spots and discontinued bands of beige and violet colours. The thick and chalky operculum has an eccentric calcified nucleus, and bears a spiral sculpture. The length of the shells varies between 12.5 mm and 15.8 mm and its diameter between 7 mm and 11.5 mm.[3]
Live but retracted individual showing shell and operculum with its eccentric nucleus
Shell
The waves of contractions on the surface of the foot are longitudinal, passing from side to side.
Pomatias elegans in motion
Ecology
This snail lives only in areas where there are high levels of calcium carbonate such as on limestone or chalk rock, and where there is loose and friable soil. This snail is also sometimes found in coastal sand dunes where the sand has many shell fragments mixed in.
Conservation status
A live but inactive individual of Pomatias elegans
The survival of this species is threatened in Central Europe by intensive farming, also in vineyards by habitat destruction, fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides and fungicides. The species has seriously declined in central and eastern England. This species is endangered in Switzerland and Ireland, and vulnerable in Germany.
References
^Journal of Molluscan Studies, GENETIC AND MORPHOLOGICAL VARIATION IN THE LAND WINKLE POMATIAS ELEGANS (MÜLLER) (CAENOGASTROPODA: POMATIASIDAE) Volume 67, Issue 2, pp 145–152 (http://mollus.oxfordjournals.org/content/67/2/145.abstract) Accessed 2014-9-2
