Occurrence and Distribution of Land Snails of the Family 



Polygyridae (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Pulmonata) 



in West Virginia 



Clement L. Counts, III 1 



Department of Biological Sciences, 

 Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia 25701 



ABSTRACT. — Twenty-four species in the family Polygyridae were 

 collected in West Virginia. Mesodon inflectus and Stenotrema barbiger- 

 um are reported from the state for the first time, and additional 

 records are also reported for other species of polygyrid snails. Results 

 of this study are compared with those of previously reported studies. 



INTRODUCTION 



The polygyrid gastropods of West Virginia have been discussed 

 with varying degrees of detail in several works. Pilsbry's (1940) major 

 study of North American land snails contained many county records for 

 West Virginia polygyrid species, although it provided little information 

 on specific collection sites. Brooks and MacMillan (1940) and MacMil- 

 lan (1949) presented more precise distributional lists. Many polygyrid 

 taxa have since been described from the state (Grimm 1971; Hubricht 

 1976), and new county and state distribution records have been pub- 

 lished (Grimm 1974; Taylor and Counts 1976). Many of the species 

 included in these works have been placed in synonymy (Burch 1962; 

 Grimm 1974; Hubricht 1974), creating some confusion as to which spe- 

 cies are present in the state. In addition, gaps still exist in our know- 

 ledge of West Virginia's polygyrid fauna. 



This paper summarizes the occurrence and distribution of this 

 group of land snails in West Virginia, and presents new locality data 

 and species reports. 



MATERIALS AND METHODS 



Both live snails and empty shells were collected from several locali- 

 ties in each of the 55 counties of West Virginia, during the period Sep- 

 tember 1975 through December 1976. Animals were identified to species 

 or subspecies using Burch (1962) or Burch and Patterson (1966). Des- 

 criptions in these keys were compared with those of Pilsbry (1940) and 

 MacMillan (1949). Some identifications were made or confirmed by Mr. 

 Leslie Hubricht, Meridian, Mississippi. 



Voucher specimens were deposited in the collections of the Museum 

 of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University; the Delaware Museum of 

 Natural History, Greenville; the Marshall University Malacological Col- 

 Present address: College of Marine Studies, University of Delaware, Lewes, Delaware 

 19958. 



Brimleyana No. 8:145-157. December 1982 145 



