Daedalochila - Liptooth Snails (Family Polygyridae)
Liptooth Snails are disc-shaped, about 7-9 mm in diameter with a thick, tooth-filled, and reflected aperture. They are actually more discoidal (flat as a cinnamon roll). The parietal tooth is large and squarish or rounded with two smaller teeth recessed from the outer lip of the aperture. The appearance is unique.
There are few collections of these distinctive Liptooth snails in Indiana. The databases suggest several species, but only two were found in more than one county: the Gulf Coast Liptooth Snail, Daedalochila leporina, in seven counties dispersed on the southern half of the state and the Oakwood Liptooth Snail, Daedalochila dorfeuilliana (pictured here), in two southwestern counties. The Oakwood Liptooth is also found in Illinois, so it might well be in Indiana.
Two species have single county observations:
The Cumberland Liptooth Snail, Daedalochila plicata, in Clark County only, but it does have records in KY (Dourson 2010) across the river, so it might well be in Indiana.
The New Harmony Liptooth Snail, Daedalochila fatigiata, is given as Polygyra fatigiata in Hubricht (1985) from Posey County. It is listed in Nature Serve with notes as follows: “Coles and Walsh (2006) report this species from Perry Co., Tennessee. Hubricht (1968) documented it in Livingston Co., Kentucky. Hubricht (1973) cites Montgomery Co., Tennessee.” The Oakwood Liptooth is also found in Illinois, so it might well be in Indiana.
In general, these are woodland species; some may be found associated with rocky areas (including rock walls), woody debris or leaf litter, limestone outcrops.
The second image is a group of Daedalochila (Photo: © George Zimmer, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC). The original image was cropped, enhanced, and resized for this web page.
Tentative Identification Key to Daedachila based on Burch (1962), Dourson (2010)*, and Oesch et al. (2013).
1a. Parietal lamella relatively long and nearly straight in a wider aperture; outer lip with two unequal-sized lamellae on a thickened ridge; smaller shell – Gulfcoast Liptooth Snail**, Daedalochila leporina (5-7 mm)
1b. Parietal tooth triangular or rather square in shape partially filling up a narrow aperture – go to 2
2a. Basal tooth and palatal tooth nearly equal in size – Oakwood Liptooth, Daedalochila dorfeuilliana (7-10 mm)
2b. Basal tooth smaller than palatal tooth or shell smaller than 6 mm – go to 3
3a. Larger, profile flatter, shell strongly ribbed, periphery sharp at top of whorl – Bluegrass Liptooth, Daedalochila fatigiata (8-11 mm)
3b. Smaller, profile with rounder apex, periphery rounder – Cumberland Liptooth, Daedalochila plicata (5.5-6 mm)
* Dourson (2010) uses Millerelix as the genus for some of these species.
** Note that the Gulfcoast Liptooth varies in appearance from the other Liptooth snails. In side view, it looks more like Stenotrema as the parietal tooth is long and more or less straight rather than the blunt squarish or triangular or V-shaped “typical” Daedalochila shell.
Gulf Coast Liptooth Snail
Daedalochila leporina (Gould, 1848)
see an image and commentary at Jaxshells
Identification: Heliciform, reflected lip, depressed to discoidal, umbilicate. ~ 7 – 9 mm in diameter. Aperture thick and reflected, large squarish or rounded parietal tooth and two smaller teeth recessed from the outer lip of the aperture. However, while belong to this genus, the Gulf Coast Liptooth is a very different species - Oesch et al. (2015) note that this species looks more a Stenotrema, but it differs with a more widely open aperture and a partially open umbilicus.
Comparisons: Note the character comment above that this shell looks more, on first glance, as a Stenotrema, the slitmouth snails. That makes it less likely to confuse it with the other species of Liptooth snails that have been rarely found in Indiana.
Habitat: According to Hubricht (1985), this species prefers low, wet places; including floodplain woods, meadows, or near springs, for example. But Oesch et al. (2015) found it mostly in mesic woodlands.
Status: not known.
Oakwood Liptooth
Daedalochila dorfeuilliana (I. Lea, 1838)
Characters: Heliciform, reflected lip, depressed to discoidal, umbilicate. ~ 7 – 9 mm. Aperture thick and reflected, large squarish or rounded parietal tooth and two smaller teeth recessed from the outer lip of the aperture. I have not found a description of the New Harmony Liptooth to use to distinguish it from the Oakwood Liptooth (see image).
Habitat: The Oakwood Liptooth is a forest species, liking rocky areas (including rock walls), also found associated with large woody debris or leaf litter, limestone outcrops. Oecsh et al. (2015) report this species in xeric habitats, and glades, xeric roadsides, stony hillsides and rocky pastures of Missouri.
Status: not known.
New Harmony Liptooth Snail
Daedalochila fatigiata (Say, 1829)
image in Dourson (2010) not available online
Characters summarized and modified from Dourson (2010): heliciform, reflected lip, depressed to discoidal, umbilicate; shell has 6 whorls; no hairs on shell surface; transverse striae noticeably rib-like; spiral striae present; top of shell edge is carinate or strongly angular.
Habitat: Hubricht 1985 notes this is a calciphile and usually found crawling on bare soils in open, sunny habitat during and after rain events.
Status: not known. Dourson (2010) notes it is “rare species” in KY and a “fairly restricted gastropod elsewhere.”
Cumberland Liptooth Snail
Daedalochila plicata (Say, 1821)
image in Dourson (2010) not available online
Characters summarized and modified from Dourson (2010): heliciform, reflected lip, depressed to discoidal, umbilicate; first 4 whorls tightly coiled; 5th (last) whorl expands and twists outward; upper branch of parietal tooth with a small projection; outer edge of shell squared or bluntly angular.
Habitat: Dourson (2020) reports this species is a calciphile of “dry hardwood forests and cedar glades around limestone outcrops; usually under leaf litter”.
Status: not known.
Three other species were in the databases but are omitted as unlikely (though, with snails, never say never). They are:
Ozark Liptooth, Snail Daedochila jacksoni, has one record near Seymour in Jackson County. Since that specimen would be way out of its range, it is not considered further here.
The Nashville Liptooth Snail, Daedalochila troostiana, has one record from Dearborn County in southeast Indiana. Nature Serves records this species in TN, AL, and KY. But Dourson (2010) says it is rare in the southcentral part of KY. It is not considered further here.
Lastly, the Grassland Liptooth Snail, Daedochila mooreana, is recorded as a specimen in one museum and it has no location information other than in “Indiana”; Hubricht (1985) and NatureServe show it only in Texas. It is not considered further here.