• «« Return to previous page
• Next Species »

• Spermodea lamellata (Jeffreys 1830) Plaited snail

Click on the thumbnails to enlarge the images

© Dr Roy Anderson

© Dr Roy Anderson

© Dr Roy Anderson

The ribs on this beautiful little shell are so fine and close that it appears to have a bloom due to interference effects. It is pyramidal rather than conical (about as high as wide) with 6 whorls which increase gradually in size. The shell is light yellow-brown colour with a silky lustre. Local and uncommon except in parts of the north and west. Declining, probably as a result of climate warming and drying out of its habitats.

Key characteristics

• A very small pyramidal brown shell with close-set ribs
• Ribs are very fine and close creating interference effects (bloom)
• Colour a light yellow-brown with a silky appearance
• Mouth oval, thin-lipped

Size

2-2.2 mm.

World Distribution

A relic of the wet Atlantic period with a narrow range from coastal southern Scandinavia to the British Isles, and one or two outlying populations on the north German plain. It has recently become extinct in Holland. Distribution type: Oceanic Temperate (71).

GBIF distribution map [open in new tab]

Irish Distribution

Common only in broadleaf woods in northern and western counties but not the central limestone plain (Anderson, 1977). In southern Britain it is extinct except for a small number of isolated and vulnerable sites (Kerney, 1999) and is evidently in decline over most of Ireland.

Ecology

• A classic 'Atlantic' species restricted to the wet fringes of north-west Europe
• Preferred habitats are older broadleaf woodlands where it inhabits deep, stable leaf litter, and is particularly common in planted beech woods
• In the past it has been able to survive considerable disturbance including the clear-felling of woods or isolation in tiny broadleaf strips within large conifer plantations, but recent drier, warmer decades have seen a steep decline in many areas
• On the Atlantic seaboard it also occurs widely in moss on rocky headlands or heaths

Red List status

• Endangered (EN).

Wikipedia link

Wikipedia page for Spermodea lamellata