NEW YORK SHELL CLUB NOTES No. 233 June-July-Aug. 197 Page 7 
length and quite narrow, slightly tapering, with many whorls. This 
species, like most urocoptids, has the habit of knocking off its 
early whorls as it matures. The name Urocoptidae means "cut off 
tail" in Greek. The immature shell, which is lost, looks quite dif- 
ferent from the mature one. It is far narrower and bears a bulbous 
protoconch at its tip. Both Microceramus species look much alike, 
differing only in size. The Pontiff Snail is lower, wider, and 
dumpier in shape than Cochlodinella and does not knock off its early 
whorls. It is whitish with a cream or brownish tinge and marked by 
irregular, coarse, oblique ribs terminating in white papillae at the 
suture. M. floridanus is smaller -- about 1/3" in height -- and has 
finer ribbing. C. poeyana and M. floridanus are quite common under 
rocks in extreme southern Florida and in the Keys. M. floridanus is 
less common and is found only in the Keys. M. ontificus has also 
been collected in western Cuba and C. poeyana is found in Matanzas 
Province, near Cardenas, in Cuba. ~ 
Another shell which has very recently appeared in great numbers in 
southern Florida is the Cuban Caracole Snail, Zachrysia rovisoria 
Pfeiffer. The shell is about one inch in diameter, yellowish, some- 
what glossy, and covered with regular, rather coarse, densely set 
axial cords. The body whorl is large and there is no umbilicus. A 
friend gave me some specimens he collected on some of the busiest 
streets of Miami Beach City. Although originally a Cuban species, 
it has also been found commonly in the Bahamas. It is possible that 
the Miami Beach specimens originally came from there. 
To these Cuban immigrants we may also add the Dentate Land Periwinkle, 
Chondrovoma dentatum Say, and the Tiny Lucidella, Lucidella tantilla 
Pilsbry. The former is a small, oblong conic shell, with a dull 
rough surface, and unevenly spaced tiny, toothlike serrations at the 
suture. It has a small, oval, horny operculum with a thin, limy 
outer layer. It is light tan in color, occasionally with faint spi- 
ral bands or rows of spots. It occurs.quite commonly on and under 
rocks from Miami southward. A very close Cuban relative is still 
found in Matanzas Province. The Tiny Lucidella is only 3mm in diam- 
eter (about 1/8"), faintly yellowish in life, and is most readily 
recognized by its completely closed umbilicus. It is found in sev- 
eral of the Florida Keys and also on some of the islands off the 
Cuban coast. 
A final species is less certainly of Cuban origin. This is the 
Florida Peanut Snail, Cerion incanum Binney, which is common in 
South Florida and especially on the Keys. It is white, sometimes 
with a bluish or flesh colored tinge, smooth, bullet shaped, with 
many flattened whorls and roundish aperture and a single small aper- 
tural tooth. It is exceedingly variable but nevertheless readily 
recognizable. It is found everywhere in unimproved land clinging to 
bushes, trees, and grasses but never very far from the sea. Occa- 
sionally specimens are taken with globs of reddish brown color and 
signs of strong vertical ribs. These may be the offspring of inter- 
breeding with some foreign species which were introduced by Dr. Paul 
Bartsch in the Keys in 1912. Cerions are found from Florida and the 
Bahamas southward as far_as Curacao ut are most richly developed in 
Cuba. Pilsbry (1946:161) indicates that an ancestor of this species 
was found as a fossil from the lower Miocene, and that typical spec- 
imens were taken in a Pliocene layer. Hence C. incanum may very 
well be a native species. 
