Yesterday I found a snail resting on a vertical sandstone wall. Approx. 50mm from a horizontal step. I would like to ID this snail, but the online ecology and habitat information states:

It favours sheltering under rocks or inside curled-up bark. It does not burrow nor climb. The species has also been observed resting in exposed areas, such as on exposed rock or leaf litter, however it will also shelter beneath leaves, rocks and light woody debris.

http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedSpeciesApp/profile.aspx?id=20283

Could my snail be this threatened species?

“The species is a shale-influenced-habitat specialist, which occurs in low densities along the western and northwest fringes of the Cumberland IBRA subregion on shale-sandstone transitional landscapes.”

Did you see it in this specific environment? (Hawkesbury sandstone Wianamatta shale transition.)

Speedy said:

Yesterday I found a snail resting on a vertical sandstone wall. Approx. 50mm from a horizontal step. I would like to ID this snail, but the online ecology and habitat information states:

It favours sheltering under rocks or inside curled-up bark. It does not burrow nor climb. The species has also been observed resting in exposed areas, such as on exposed rock or leaf litter, however it will also shelter beneath leaves, rocks and light woody debris.

http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedSpeciesApp/profile.aspx?id=20283

Could my snail be this threatened species?

Does it fit the description?
“a medium sized snail with a dark brown to black semi-translucent, subglobose (almost spherical shaped) shell.”

I don’t know this, in fact I only know three (or four) snails in Australia. The garden snail, Italian snail, and a small snail up to 10 mm wide with brown translucent shell and a fairly flat whorl that used to be found in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

If I was looking for threatened snail species I’d look on the margins of a fresh water stream or in permanently wet leaf litter, not on a sandstone step.

Speedy said:

Yesterday I found a snail resting on a vertical sandstone wall. Approx. 50mm from a horizontal step. I would like to ID this snail, but the online ecology and habitat information states:

It favours sheltering under rocks or inside curled-up bark. It does not burrow nor climb. The species has also been observed resting in exposed areas, such as on exposed rock or leaf litter, however it will also shelter beneath leaves, rocks and light woody debris.

http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedSpeciesApp/profile.aspx?id=20283

Could my snail be this threatened species?

Where’s the photo of your snail?

The person to ask is Helix but I haven’t seen he for ages.

roughbarked said:

The person to ask is Helix but I haven’t seen he for ages.

I can message her if need be.

The third most common introduced snail in the region is Bradybaena similaris, the Asian trampsnail, which also has a translucent brown shell.

Thanks for your replies.

Yes, the snail is in the right area. Yes, it fits the description, except it was found on a vertical surface and it’s not meant to be a climbing species.

I will contact someone tomorrow to have it identified properly, as it could be useful to get a positive ID on this one right now. I will post photos here too and see if you come to the same conclusion.

Speedy said:

Thanks for your replies.

Yes, the snail is in the right area. Yes, it fits the description, except it was found on a vertical surface and it’s not meant to be a climbing species.

I will contact someone tomorrow to have it identified properly, as it could be useful to get a positive ID on this one right now. I will post photos here too and see if you come to the same conclusion.

Although some species of snail are not technically climbers, they do nevertheless need to negotiate obstacles of which a step would fit into that category. So your snail is not necessarily a climber, but a snail that took the wrong turn.

Anyone like to take a guess?

Snail expert has suggested that so little is known about the Dural Woodland Snail that the information I linked to may not be entirely accurate.

Photos have been sent to him too, so I will let you know what he thinks when he replies.

Speedy said:

Anyone like to take a guess?

Snail expert has suggested that so little is known about the Dural Woodland Snail that the information I linked to may not be entirely accurate.

Photos have been sent to him too, so I will let you know what he thinks when he replies.

Guess: terrestrial gastropod.

It’s a nice snail but I can’t put a name to it.

Where did you find this snail?

dv said:

Where did you find this snail?

It looks like the snail found Speedy.

No really … it will aid identification if you give me an idea of where you are. NSW, I presume, but more specifically?

dv said:

Where did you find this snail?

At home at the front sandstone steps. Home is on/in bushland.

Which is in NW Sydney. Yes, somewhere near Dural.

party_pants said:

dv said:

Where did you find this snail?

It looks like the snail found Speedy.

Hehe. When I first saw it there and tried to take a photo, the camera battery ran out. I panicked and ran upstairs to try to quickly charge it a little, before realising that it wasn’t really going anywhere fast.

Speedy said:

party_pants said:

dv said:

Where did you find this snail?

It looks like the snail found Speedy.

Hehe. When I first saw it there and tried to take a photo, the camera battery ran out. I panicked and ran upstairs to try to quickly charge it a little, before realising that it wasn’t really going anywhere fast.

If it’s a new species we could name it ‘Speedy’.

Speedy said:

party_pants said:

dv said:

Where did you find this snail?

It looks like the snail found Speedy.

Hehe. When I first saw it there and tried to take a photo, the camera battery ran out. I panicked and ran upstairs to try to quickly charge it a little, before realising that it wasn’t really going anywhere fast.

We have an ID. I emails the same pics that I posted here and have this response:

These are indeed Dural Land Snails Pommerhelix duralensis. I’m pleased to see they have survived in the area.

:)

Speedy said:

We have an ID. I emails the same pics that I posted here and have this response:

These are indeed Dural Land Snails Pommerhelix duralensis. I’m pleased to see they have survived in the area.

:)

Marvelous. BTW, the shell doesn’t look very translucent.

mollwollfumble said:

Speedy said:

We have an ID. I emails the same pics that I posted here and have this response:

These are indeed Dural Land Snails Pommerhelix duralensis. I’m pleased to see they have survived in the area.

:)

Marvelous. BTW, the shell doesn’t look very translucent.

Maybe it’s not clear on the photos, but it is a bit translucent. In daylight, I could see yesterday where the snail’s body stopped within the shell.

I think I really like this little guy.

Speedy said:

mollwollfumble said:

Speedy said:

We have an ID. I emails the same pics that I posted here and have this response:

These are indeed Dural Land Snails Pommerhelix duralensis. I’m pleased to see they have survived in the area.

:)

Marvelous. BTW, the shell doesn’t look very translucent.

Maybe it’s not clear on the photos, but it is a bit translucent. In daylight, I could see yesterday where the snail’s body stopped within the shell.

I think I really like this little guy.

Depends upon what he/she likes eating.

Speedy said:

mollwollfumble said:

Speedy said:

We have an ID. I emails the same pics that I posted here and have this response:

These are indeed Dural Land Snails Pommerhelix duralensis. I’m pleased to see they have survived in the area.

:)

Marvelous. BTW, the shell doesn’t look very translucent.

Maybe it’s not clear on the photos, but it is a bit translucent. In daylight, I could see yesterday where the snail’s body stopped within the shell.

I think I really like this little guy.

You’re not going to eat him are you?

PermeateFree said:

Speedy said:

mollwollfumble said:

Marvelous. BTW, the shell doesn’t look very translucent.

Maybe it’s not clear on the photos, but it is a bit translucent. In daylight, I could see yesterday where the snail’s body stopped within the shell.

I think I really like this little guy.

You’re not going to eat him are you?

Nothing like endangered species on the menu.

Speedy said:

PermeateFree said:

Speedy said:

Maybe it’s not clear on the photos, but it is a bit translucent. In daylight, I could see yesterday where the snail’s body stopped within the shell.

I think I really like this little guy.

You’re not going to eat him are you?

Nothing like endangered species on the menu.

I tend to keep planting so I never wipe a species out.

Speedy said:

We have an ID. I emails the same pics that I posted here and have this response:

These are indeed Dural Land Snails Pommerhelix duralensis. I’m pleased to see they have survived in the area.

:)

Well done Ms Speedy!

:)

:)

:)

We had a visit from Council staff about this snail today and they took measurements/photos etc. I was told to release it in the garden tonight.

I placed it on a big sandstone outcrop covered in lichen, left it there for an hour and just went to take a look. It has moved 500mm+ and is now sitting, once again, on a vertical sandstone surface 50mm from the ground. This species is know to travel only 1m per night and is not a climbing species.

The people who are in the know don’t seem too concerned with the undocumented climbing behaviour at this stage, as it’s still a relatively unstudied species.

Speedy said:

We had a visit from Council staff about this snail today and they took measurements/photos etc. I was told to release it in the garden tonight.

They’ll declare your place a snail sanctuary and make you move.

Speedy said:

We had a visit from Council staff about this snail today and they took measurements/photos etc. I was told to release it in the garden tonight.

I placed it on a big sandstone outcrop covered in lichen, left it there for an hour and just went to take a look. It has moved 500mm+ and is now sitting, once again, on a vertical sandstone surface 50mm from the ground. This species is know to travel only 1m per night and is not a climbing species.

The people who are in the know don’t seem too concerned with the undocumented climbing behaviour at this stage, as it’s still a relatively unstudied species.

Fuck, snails of any sort have been found having climbed far above any previous estimates, often.

AwesomeO said:

Speedy said:

We had a visit from Council staff about this snail today and they took measurements/photos etc. I was told to release it in the garden tonight.

They’ll declare your place a snail sanctuary and make you move.

I am sure this was an attempt at humour.

AwesomeO said:

Speedy said:

We had a visit from Council staff about this snail today and they took measurements/photos etc. I was told to release it in the garden tonight.

They’ll declare your place a snail sanctuary and make you move.

Yes, I’d thought of that :)

They told me that shells of the same species have been found on a nearby property and since speaking with a few other locals who are in-the-know, it turns out they have seen them too, in the bush not too far from here.

Not sure if I can do my gardening now without walking on tip-toe.

Speedy said:

AwesomeO said:

Speedy said:

We had a visit from Council staff about this snail today and they took measurements/photos etc. I was told to release it in the garden tonight.

They’ll declare your place a snail sanctuary and make you move.

Yes, I’d thought of that :)

They told me that shells of the same species have been found on a nearby property and since speaking with a few other locals who are in-the-know, it turns out they have seen them too, in the bush not too far from here.

Not sure if I can do my gardening now without walking on tip-toe.

Don’t worry, your neighbours have spares by the sound of it.

Just don’t use snail bait.

roughbarked said:

Speedy said:

AwesomeO said:

They’ll declare your place a snail sanctuary and make you move.

Yes, I’d thought of that :)

They told me that shells of the same species have been found on a nearby property and since speaking with a few other locals who are in-the-know, it turns out they have seen them too, in the bush not too far from here.

Not sure if I can do my gardening now without walking on tip-toe.

Don’t worry, your neighbours have spares by the sound of it.

Just don’t use snail bait.

Talk to your neighbours about this issue. Request that they become familiar with the differences between species and encourage them to pay their children to know the difference and put the wrong snails inmto a bucket of salt and leave the correct snails in peace.

roughbarked said:

roughbarked said:

Speedy said:

Yes, I’d thought of that :)

They told me that shells of the same species have been found on a nearby property and since speaking with a few other locals who are in-the-know, it turns out they have seen them too, in the bush not too far from here.

Not sure if I can do my gardening now without walking on tip-toe.

Don’t worry, your neighbours have spares by the sound of it.

Just don’t use snail bait.

Talk to your neighbours about this issue. Request that they become familiar with the differences between species and encourage them to pay their children to know the difference and put the wrong snails inmto a bucket of salt and leave the correct snails in peace.

Or, encourage them to farm escargot.

roughbarked said:

roughbarked said:

roughbarked said:

Don’t worry, your neighbours have spares by the sound of it.

Just don’t use snail bait.

Talk to your neighbours about this issue. Request that they become familiar with the differences between species and encourage them to pay their children to know the difference and put the wrong snails inmto a bucket of salt and leave the correct snails in peace.

Or, encourage them to farm escargot.

Anyway, My full praise to you Speedy, for spotting a different snail. This cannot be easy for any other than those who study vive la difference.

As far as it goes, at one stage I got up to 5 cents per snail when they could get thirty bucks from a couple of square metres.

These days, I don’t need snail bait for the common garden escargot. They simply aren’t there. It was not much fault of mine when you consider that I am but a small part of humankinid in a planet that does what it is pushed to do.

The long dry and the price of putting water on did put paid to the snails equity in this space. I do still have those intrepid Italian white snails but I’m working on hoping something will happen.

They aren’t really a bother so much because I don’t mechanically harvest.

Hooray for your snail and the ID.

Hope your quest to save dwindling unique environment fares as well as the snail quest.

ruby said:

Hooray for your snail and the ID.

Hope your quest to save dwindling unique environment fares as well as the snail quest.

+1 and 1 and 1 and infinitum.

roughbarked said:

roughbarked said:

roughbarked said:

Talk to your neighbours about this issue. Request that they become familiar with the differences between species and encourage them to pay their children to know the difference and put the wrong snails inmto a bucket of salt and leave the correct snails in peace.

Or, encourage them to farm escargot.

Anyway, My full praise to you Speedy, for spotting a different snail. This cannot be easy for any other than those who study vive la difference.

As far as it goes, at one stage I got up to 5 cents per snail when they could get thirty bucks from a couple of square metres.

These days, I don’t need snail bait for the common garden escargot. They simply aren’t there. It was not much fault of mine when you consider that I am but a small part of humankinid in a planet that does what it is pushed to do.

The long dry and the price of putting water on did put paid to the snails equity in this space. I do still have those intrepid Italian white snails but I’m working on hoping something will happen.

They aren’t really a bother so much because I don’t mechanically harvest.

We rarely see snails here at all, so it wasn’t too hard to notice it. With residents being hyper aware ATM about the ecology in the area (huge 13-lot development proposed for a nearby property), it wasn’t difficult to put it all together.

I notice too, when walking around the block sometimes with the dog, that properties with watering systems often have those common snails on the pathway at night. Your comments about water are interesting.

I rarely use poisons here and when I do, it is usually cut and paint for weeds.

Speedy said:

roughbarked said:

roughbarked said:

Or, encourage them to farm escargot.

Anyway, My full praise to you Speedy, for spotting a different snail. This cannot be easy for any other than those who study vive la difference.

As far as it goes, at one stage I got up to 5 cents per snail when they could get thirty bucks from a couple of square metres.

These days, I don’t need snail bait for the common garden escargot. They simply aren’t there. It was not much fault of mine when you consider that I am but a small part of humankinid in a planet that does what it is pushed to do.

The long dry and the price of putting water on did put paid to the snails equity in this space. I do still have those intrepid Italian white snails but I’m working on hoping something will happen.

They aren’t really a bother so much because I don’t mechanically harvest.

We rarely see snails here at all, so it wasn’t too hard to notice it. With residents being hyper aware ATM about the ecology in the area (huge 13-lot development proposed for a nearby property), it wasn’t difficult to put it all together.

I notice too, when walking around the block sometimes with the dog, that properties with watering systems often have those common snails on the pathway at night. Your comments about water are interesting.

I rarely use poisons here and when I do, it is usually cut and paint for weeds.

My comments about water were very pertinent and I gladdens my heart that you saw it.

mollwollfumble said:

If I was looking for threatened snail species I’d look on the margins of a fresh water stream or in permanently wet leaf litter, not on a sandstone step.

This is interesting. The Council workers who came out to ID today specifically stated that they had presumed that this snail would be found in such habitat. However, the “expert” who ID’d it using the same pics I posted, had previously advised that this was not necessarily the case. He often finds them in exposed areas in full sun during the day (they are a nocturnal species).

Speedy said:

mollwollfumble said:

If I was looking for threatened snail species I’d look on the margins of a fresh water stream or in permanently wet leaf litter, not on a sandstone step.

This is interesting. The Council workers who came out to ID today specifically stated that they had presumed that this snail would be found in such habitat. However, the “expert” who ID’d it using the same pics I posted, had previously advised that this was not necessarily the case. He often finds them in exposed areas in full sun during the day (they are a nocturnal species).

Who asked the snail this question?

or for those who are interested, SSSF>?

ruby said:

Hooray for your snail and the ID.

Hope your quest to save dwindling unique environment fares as well as the snail quest.

Thanks ruby. Me too :)

We had a loss too yesterday, but this little snail in the jar was enough to keep me going.

Speedy said:

ruby said:

Hooray for your snail and the ID.

Hope your quest to save dwindling unique environment fares as well as the snail quest.

Thanks ruby. Me too :)

We had a loss too yesterday, but this little snail in the jar was enough to keep me going.

commiserations for your loss.

Speedy said:

mollwollfumble said:

If I was looking for threatened snail species I’d look on the margins of a fresh water stream or in permanently wet leaf litter, not on a sandstone step.

This is interesting. The Council workers who came out to ID today specifically stated that they had presumed that this snail would be found in such habitat. However, the “expert” who ID’d it using the same pics I posted, had previously advised that this was not necessarily the case. He often finds them in exposed areas in full sun during the day (they are a nocturnal species).

I looked that species up on google, where it said they can create a seal between the shell and operculum to stop them from drying out, so obviously they can spend prolong dry periods in this condition, but they become active again after rain.

PermeateFree said:

Speedy said:

mollwollfumble said:

If I was looking for threatened snail species I’d look on the margins of a fresh water stream or in permanently wet leaf litter, not on a sandstone step.

This is interesting. The Council workers who came out to ID today specifically stated that they had presumed that this snail would be found in such habitat. However, the “expert” who ID’d it using the same pics I posted, had previously advised that this was not necessarily the case. He often finds them in exposed areas in full sun during the day (they are a nocturnal species).

I looked that species up on google, where it said they can create a seal between the shell and operculum to stop them from drying out, so obviously they can spend prolong dry periods in this condition, but they become active again after rain.

This is why nobody can get rid of any snails unless they go looking for the hiberntimng snails.

roughbarked said:

This is why nobody can get rid of any snails unless they go looking for the hibernating snails.

Get rid of them?
Mrs m puts out food for the slugs on our front steps. I don’t mind her feeding the slugs, but would prefer her to use somewhere else as a feeding location.

Actually, I feel guilty. After slugs found their way on a regular basis to our cat food bowl, I put down snail killer. Those species of slug have never been seen here since.

mollwollfumble said:

roughbarked said:

This is why nobody can get rid of any snails unless they go looking for the hibernating snails.

Get rid of them?
Mrs m puts out food for the slugs on our front steps. I don’t mind her feeding the slugs, but would prefer her to use somewhere else as a feeding location.

Actually, I feel guilty. After slugs found their way on a regular basis to our cat food bowl, I put down snail killer. Those species of slug have never been seen here since.

I feed slugs the beer dregs.
just dragged my tomato plants in befoe this frost gets them.

back to bed but I wants get up again and wash before they turn the water off at 7 am.

roughbarked said:

Speedy said:

ruby said:

Hooray for your snail and the ID.

Hope your quest to save dwindling unique environment fares as well as the snail quest.

Thanks ruby. Me too :)

We had a loss too yesterday, but this little snail in the jar was enough to keep me going.

commiserations for your loss.

Thanks rb.

Just a frustrating thing happened with a proposed local project here. It is to irreversibly damage an area of pristine bushland when better and cheaper alternatives are available. I met the mayor on Sunday and she promised to stop all work overnight and do a review. She sent the request to the GM Sunday afternoon, who sent it on to the manager in charge, but workers were already scheduled to start work early on Monday morning. Manager in charge is sorry not sorry and mayor is peeved. The good thing is that she knows he’s been underhanded and she’s now been voted in for 3 years. The battle continues. I think I have made a new enemy though; my landline rang twice at 5am this morning, just to make my life awkward, but FWIW I was already up.

The little snail made his appearance just at the right time. It makes all this shit a little more bearable :)

Speedy said:

roughbarked said:

Speedy said:

Thanks ruby. Me too :)

We had a loss too yesterday, but this little snail in the jar was enough to keep me going.

commiserations for your loss.

Thanks rb.

Just a frustrating thing happened with a proposed local project here. It is to irreversibly damage an area of pristine bushland when better and cheaper alternatives are available. I met the mayor on Sunday and she promised to stop all work overnight and do a review. She sent the request to the GM Sunday afternoon, who sent it on to the manager in charge, but workers were already scheduled to start work early on Monday morning. Manager in charge is sorry not sorry and mayor is peeved. The good thing is that she knows he’s been underhanded and she’s now been voted in for 3 years. The battle continues. I think I have made a new enemy though; my landline rang twice at 5am this morning, just to make my life awkward, but FWIW I was already up.

The little snail made his appearance just at the right time. It makes all this shit a little more bearable :)

stand up for your rights as well as for those of snails the world over.