''Melampus coffea'', commonly known as the coffee bean snail, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of small air-breathing

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...

snail, a

pulmonate Pulmonata or pulmonates, is an informal group (previously an order, and before that a subclass) of snails and slugs characterized by the ability to breathe air, by virtue of having a pallial lung instead of a gill, or gills. The group includ ...

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

in the family Ellobiidae.Rosenberg, G. (2014). Melampus coffea (Linnaeus, 1758). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=420640 on 2015-02-24

Distribution

The coffee bean snail is found on both coasts of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and throughout the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

Description

The maximum recorded shell length is 23 mm.Welch J. J. (2010). "The "Island Rule" and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". '' PLoS ONE'' 5(1): e8776. .

Ecology

Minimum recorded depth is -0.3 m. Maximum recorded depth is 0.3 m. This small snail is commonly found in the intertidal zone of mangroves amongst the roots and branches. It is similar in appearance to ''

Melampus bidentatus ''Melampus bidentatus'' common name the "common marsh snail", "eastern melampus", or "coffee bean snail" is a species of small, amphibious air-breathing snail, a pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Ellobiidae. Description The maximum re ...

'' and the two are often confused. ''Melampus bidentatus'' is slightly larger and is more likely to be found in a

as opposed to mangrove habitat for ''Melampus coffea''. Like other species of ''Melampus'', the coffee bean snail is one of the few

snails to reproduce via planktonic larvae called veligers (Ruppert & Barnes 1994). Upon hatching, the veligers will spend between 4–6 weeks in the

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) that are unable to propel themselves against a Ocean current, current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankt ...

, and then return to the mangroves on a high tide, and metamorphose into juvenile snails. This species is a

detritivore Detritivores (also known as detrivores, detritophages, detritus feeders, or detritus eaters) are heterotrophs that obtain nutrients by consuming detritus (decomposing plant and animal parts as well as feces). There are many kinds of invertebrates, ...

and

herbivore A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpart ...

, foraging upon fresh and decaying mangrove leaf litter. The coffee bean snail engages in vertical migration leading up to the time of high tide, in order to escape inundation and the increased risk of

predation Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the ...

by various fish species.McKee K. L. & Faulkner P.. (2000). "Restoration of biogeochemical function in mangrove forests". '' Restor. Ecol.'' 8: 247-259.

References

* Rosenberg, G., F. Moretzsohn, and E. F. García. 2009. ''Gastropoda (Mollusca) of the Gulf of Mexico'', Pp. 579–699 in Felder, D.L. and D.K. Camp (eds.), Gulf of Mexico–Origins, Waters, and Biota. Biodiversity. Texas A&M Press, College Station, Texas

External links

Malacolog info, spelling ''Melampus coffea''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q6811150 Ellobiidae Gastropods described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus