ENDODONTIDAE 



83 



Family ENDODONTIDAE 



Snails of the family Endodontidae have shells that are never 

 smooth and shining as in the Zonitidae. The shells are opaque, 

 usually brown in color, and the sculpture is usually ribstriate, 



the ribs in many cases being conspicuous. Shells of this family 

 differ from those of the family Polygyridae in having a thin, 

 sharp lip or peristome, which is never expanded. Size of shells 

 varies from that of Punctum pygmaeum, less than one-sixteenth 

 inch (1.5 mm.) in diameter, to that of the large Anguispira 

 kochi, with a diameter of an inch or more (25-28 mm.). Some 

 species are uniformly brown in color while others have brown 

 bands or vertical streaks of color. 



The animal has a large, fleshy foot and body. In some species 

 the body appears too large for the shell. The eye peduncles are 

 long and slender, and the tentacles are small and inconspicuous. 

 Anguispira alternata is pictured above. 



The family Endodontidae is distributed throughout nearly 

 the entire world, embracing in its range all of the continents and 

 many of the islands of the seas. In North America the family 

 is distributed from Alaska to Central America and from the 

 Atlantic states to California and British Columbia. 



Key to Genera 



1. Shell ^ to 1 inch in diameter and marked by brown spiral 



bands or scattered blotches of brown color. .Anguispira^ p. 84 

 Shell M inch or less in diameter and without contrasting 

 markings; even brown or horn in color, p. 87 2 



2. Shell brown in color; about ki inch in diameter. . .Discus, p. 86' 

 Shell horn or yellowish in color; 3^ inch or less in diameter. . . .3 



3. Spire flattened; umbilicus wide and shallow. .Helicodiscus, p. 88 

 Spire dome shaped; umbilicus narrow and deep. .Punctum, p. 90 



