Strophocheilidae
Ecuadorian snails
31-03-2009 19:25
Recently I received a mail from a French bird watcher
who had been to Ecuador. I know that bird watchers
can be ardent ‘snail watchers’ and vice versa. He
took some pictures at Rio Silanche Reserve, a patch
of tropical lowland forest at 500 m elevation on the
west side of the Andes.
It is always difficult to make an identification from a photograph only, especially if there only dorso-lateral views of the shell obscuring any details of the umbilicus, the shape of the aperture, possible dentition, etc. On the other hand, it is extremely nice to have pictures of living snails. There can’t be enough.
With all the reservations you can expect from a scientist, the final judgement is that this is most probably Strophocheilus popelarianus (Nyst, 1845).
The other picture is from some pleurodontid species. Most likely it is an Isomeria, possibly I. kolbergi (Miller).
Thanks to Vincent Mouret for the pictures and to Francisco Borrero for help with identifications.
It is always difficult to make an identification from a photograph only, especially if there only dorso-lateral views of the shell obscuring any details of the umbilicus, the shape of the aperture, possible dentition, etc. On the other hand, it is extremely nice to have pictures of living snails. There can’t be enough.
With all the reservations you can expect from a scientist, the final judgement is that this is most probably Strophocheilus popelarianus (Nyst, 1845).
The other picture is from some pleurodontid species. Most likely it is an Isomeria, possibly I. kolbergi (Miller).
Thanks to Vincent Mouret for the pictures and to Francisco Borrero for help with identifications.