Amber snails, amber shells

Code: None allocated

Class Gastropoda: Subclass Pulmonata: Order Sigmurethra.

Succineids are found in damp, often semi-aquatic situations. Their common name ('amber snails') relates to their distinctive shell colour. The Australian fauna comprises four species in the cosmopolitan genus Succinea . These species are found throughout mainland Australia and Tasmania.

Succineidae need to be separated from the rather similar pond-snail family Lymnaeidae. Smith (1996) observes that in live specimens succineid tentacles are cylindrical with the eyes at the tips. In contrast, in live lymnaeids the tentacles are fleshy and triangular with the eyes at the base of the tentacles.

Reference:

Smith, B.J. (1996) Identification keys to the Families and Genera of Bivalve and Gastropod Molluscs found in Australian Inland Waters . Cooperative Research Centre for Freshwater Ecology Identification Guide No. 6., Albury, NSW.