Zonitoides - Gloss Snails (Family Gastrodontidae)
Gloss Snails are glossy-shelled small (~4-6 mm in diameter) snails but their surfaces never quite seem smooth, rather tend to be mottled or etched.
Three species have been recorded. The Quick Gloss Snail (Zonitoides arboreus) is the commonest, found throughout the state. The Dull Gloss Snail (Zonitoides limatulus) and the Black Gloss Snail (Zonitoides nitidus) are less common but scattered around the state.
Characteristics: subglobose to depressed shell, simple lip, umbilicate, usually glossy shell, with irregular growth lines and often with light irregular lines in addition.
Habitat: a generalist - woodlands, some grasslands, leaf litter, and woody debris (look in the crevices)
Status: probably stable
Key to Zonitoides based on Oesch et al. (2013) and from an unsecured archived page.
1a. Shell surface glossy, with weakly sculptured growth wrinkles; 5-8 mm diameter; aperture oval - 2
1b. Shell surface dull, with closely spaced, prominent axial ridges; diameter 4.3-5.0 mm diameter; aperture nearly round - Zonitoides limatulus
​2a. Smaller (4.5-6.0 mm diameter) with a smaller aperture - Zonitoides arboreus
2b. Larger (6-8 mm diameter) with larger aperture - Zonitoides nitidus
Zonitoides arboreus (Say, 1816)
Quick Gloss Snail
Zonitoides arboreus (Say, 1816)
image of Dull Gloss Snail
Dull Gloss Snail
Zonitoides limatulus (A. Binney, 1840)
image of Black Gloss Snail
Black Gloss Snail
Zonitoides nitidus (Muller, 1774)
