''Acicula fusca'' is a species of

land snail A land snail is any of the numerous species of snail that live on land, as opposed to the sea snails and freshwater snails. ''Land snail'' is the common name for terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells (those without shells are known as ...

in the family

Aciculidae The Aciculidae are a family of minute land snails which have opercula (an operculum is a little door that closes the shell when the animal retracts into it). In other words, Aciculidae are terrestrial operculate gastropods. Even though Aciculid ...

. It is known by the common name point snail. It is native to Europe, where it occurs in Britain, Ireland, France south to the Basses Pyrénées, Spain, Belgium, and north-west Germany. Commonest in the west. The distribution type is Oceanic Temperate.

Shell description

For terms see gastropod shell''. The shell is about 2 to 3 millimeters wide, with 6 whorls and shallow sutures. The apex is blunt. The penultimate whorl is striated with 15 to 23 lines and the aperture climbs only slightly at the penultimate whorl. The apertural margin is not thickened inside, the callus does not cover the umbilicus, the angularis is very weak, the parietal callus is weak or absent, no cervical callus is present. There is a minute translucent operculum. The surface is smooth, glossy, reddish to yellowish-brown.

Habitat

This species lives in wet moss and leaf litter in woodlands on calcareous soils. Because it is minute, it is easily overlooked.

References

External links

''Acicula fusca''
at Animalbase
Malacologie-les escargots terrestres de France
Image
''Acicula fusca''
Species account and photograph at Mollusc Ireland.
Guido Poppe: Acicula
Acicula (gastropod) Gastropods of Europe Gastropods described in 1803 {{Aciculidae-stub