CHAPTER XLV: THE LOOPING SNAILS 



Family Truncatellid^ 



Shell very small, elongated, truncated; aperture round; 

 lip continuous. Animal with small foot and head; snout large, 

 as long as the body. Amphibious mollusks, inhabiting salt 

 marshes and stream borders, where they walk by looping along 

 like measuring worms, using the foot and snout. 



Genus TRUNCATELLA, Risso 



A tropical genus of world-wide range. Several species of 

 these minute shells venture north into the States from Mexico 

 and the West Indies. All are finely ridged across the whorls. 



T. bilabiata, Pfr., has a two-ridged lip. The surface is 

 brownish, solid, elegantly carved. The apex is gone. Length, 

 i inch. 



Habitat. — Cuba, Florida. 



T. pulchella, Pfr., is more tapering, amber and shining, 

 about the same size, with a single thick rim. 



Habitat. — West Indies, Florida. 



The California Looping Snail (T. Californica, Pfr.) has a 

 minute horny shell, whose smooth whorls, separated by a deep 

 suture, form a slim cylinder a quarter of an inch long. Only 

 practised eyes can find this little creature, looping along on sea- 

 weed or stones, or in salt meadows on grass stems. 



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