In addition to freshwater molluscs, we also work with terrestrial snails. Our research is concentrated on the Caribbean snail family Annulariidae (ca. 700 species). A few examples are shown below.
Xenopoma aguayoi Torre & Bartsch, 1941 – Cuba
Parachondria fascia (Wood, 1828) – Jamaica
Cistulops raveni (Crosse, 1872) – Curaçao
Annularia pisum (Adams, 1849) – Jamaica
Abbottella domingoensis Bartsch, 1946 – Hispaniola
Chondropomium elegans Watters & Duffy, 2010 – Hispaniola
Chondropomium swifti (Shuttleworth, 1854) – Hispaniola
Chondrothyra atristoma (Henderson & Bartsch, 1938) – Cuba
Annularia rosenbergi Bank & Menkhorst, 2008 – Jamaica
Turrithyra hendersoni (Torre, 1909) – Cuba
Crossepoma vermiculatum (Bartsch, 1946) – Hispaniola
Parachondria rubicundus (Morelet, 1849) – Guatemala
Licina auffenbergi Watters, 2013 – Hispaniola
Chondropomium lynx Watters, 2012 – Hispaniola
Weinlandipoma gonavense (Weinland, 1880) – Hispaniola
Wetmorepoma morsecodex (Watters, 2012) – Hispaniola
Chondropoma crystallinum Watters, 2012 – Hispaniola
Chondropoma manielense Bartsch, 1946 – Hispaniola
About the author: Dr. G. Thomas Watters is the Curator of Molluscs
Wonderful pictures, but why the spines on the first one?
The easy answer is “antipredation” but I have my doubts. The shells are fragile and even with the spines would probably be no discouragement to the rodents and birds that presumably hunt them. I have seen hundreds of spiny shells systematically and neatly crushed in the same place over and over by an unidentified predator. My secret theory, unproven, is that the sculpture dissipates heat like the vanes on a radiator. Many species occur on rock faces cooked by the sun. Species lacking such sculpture often burrow under rocks and debris to await cooler and wetter conditions – spines would only hinder their movement.