Stenogyra (Cochlicopa) lubrica (i.e. slippery).—Very common in moss and under stones or logs. Much like the previous species, but no denticles and fewer whorls, and broader mouth.
Stenogyra (Cæcilioides) acicula.—If this word is supposed to be Latin it would mean either “like to a blind worm” or “like to a lettuce”! Cæcus, however, being Latin for blind, the allusion is no doubt to the fact that this wholly subterranean species is eyeless. The only British representative of a large family of carnivorous molluscs. I have found it on Saxon bones when unearthed, and in crevices of limestone underground, but it is generally found dead amongst the rejectamenta on the banks of rivers. It is a pretty, glossy white shell, 5 millimetres in height by 1 in breadth.
I may notice here two other land shells, although they scientifically are grouped amongst the fluviatile Gasteropoda.
Cyclostoma (Pomatias) elegans.—Common on calcareous soils, especially chalk. A spiral shell of 4-1/2 whorls, suture very deep. Mouth circular (whence its name) and provided with a thick shelly operculum which closes the orifice when the animal retires by means of an elastic ligament. This and the next species are our only land shells provided with an operculum, and this shows their derivation from the marine Gasteropoda (e.g. whelk and winkle). Perhaps all shells were originally marine, but some became first amphibious and then terrestrial. It is quite unlike any other of our land shells.
Acicula lineata is a very small shell, the size of the Pupæ; mainly northern in distribution. Feeds on liverworts and fungi. Very local; 6 or 7 whorls. Mouth pear-shaped, with a horny operculum.
The Family Succinea really ranks with the land shells, as belonging to the sub-order Pulmonata or lung-breathing molluscs. It is, however, amphibious, and hibernates in the mud at the bottom of a ditch.
Succinea putris (it is the mud, not the animal, which is putrid!) is called the Amber Snail from the colour of its shell, which is unlike any other. Common on flags, etc., at the edges of ditches and ponds.
Succinea elegans.—Difficult to distinguish from the former, but the animal is darker and the shell more slender, with a deeper suture and a narrower mouth.
Succinea oblonga is local and rare. Generally found near the sea. Much smaller than the other Succineas, and easily mistaken for the young of other species. Colour dull greenish.