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amber snail
amber snail (Catinella vermeta)
Illinois Status: common, native
Photo © Marla Coppolino
Features and Behaviors
FEATURES
Amber snails are recognized by the wide shell openings, their yellow-brown color, and thin, oval shell. Amber snails are very round, have three whorls and are about half inch long. Amber snails have yellow-brown mottled bodies, short and thick eye stalks, and blunt olfactory tentacles. Their body color may change from the spring to the fall. There are many taxonomic synonyms for this species: Catinella avara, Succinea avara, Say forma alba, S. a. var. compacta, S. a. var. major, S. illinoisensis, S. poeyensis, S. venusta, S. vermeta, and S. wardiana.
BEHAVIORS
Amber snails are found along shady lowland streams and wetlands among wet logs and leaf litter. They live for up to six years and become sexually mature at two to three. They are hermaphrodites and probably mate in early spring to mid-summer. Species that are hermaphrodites have both male and female parts, and can self-reproduce. Amber snails lay eggs in woody debris protected from the sun and young snails hatch about a month later. They are prone to freezing in the winter and dehydration in the summer. They hibernate from October to April. Amber snails are found in counties scattered across the state.
Illinois Range
Taxonomy
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Stylommatophora
Family: Succineidae
Habitats
shady lowland streams and wetlands among wet logs and leaf litter
