Hollow-shelled Snail Shells of the Ellobiidae Family

One Hollow-shelled Snail Shell of the Ellobiidae Family can be found in this website:

Coffee Bean Snail Shell, Melampus coffea. A representative of the Ellobiidae Family of Hollow-shelled Snail Shells.

Phylogeny: Hollow-shelled Snail Shells of the Ellobiidae Family are pulmonate (air-breathing) gastropod mollusks in the Ellobiida order. Shells in this order may be terrestrial, fresh water or marine species. There is only the superfamily Ellobioidea, and only the Ellobiidae Family in this order. There are four subfamilies in this family – Ellobiinae with three genera and eighteen species, Melampodinae with two genera and sixty-one species, Pedipedinae with seven genera and forty-four species, and Pythiinae with eight genera and sixty-six species. Shells in the Ellobiidae Family are also known as Air-breathing Snails and Ellobiids.

Description: Ellobiids are small to medium-sized and generally egg-shaped, cylindrical or spindle-shaped. They have short to medium spires and a large body whorl. Their shells are thin and sometimes translucent. They may be smooth or sculpted with fine spiral cords. The aperture is elongate and often narrowed by folds or teeth on either, or both, lips. They have no anterior siphonal canal and no operculum. Ellobiids are usually white, gray, or brown in color, sometimes with spiral bands. They range in size from 0.2 cm (0.1 inch) to over 10 cm (3.9 inches) in length.

Habitat and Distribution: Hollow-shelled Snails are found in brackish, terrestrial, and marine environments, but not in fresh water. They live on soft substrates, rocks, mangroves, salt marsh plants, and deep in caves. The marine species are found from the supratidal zone to depths of  around 30 m (98 feet). Ellobiids are found world wide in tropical and subtropical seas. Twelve species from the Ellobiidae family are found in Mexican waters.

Natural History: Hollow-shelled Snails are diverse in their diets and may be detritivores, herbivores, or omnivores. Ellobiids may be consecutive or simultaneous hermaphrodites that reproduce sexually with external fertilization. They are able to breath air by use of a pair of pneumostome (breathing pores) on the mantle. Ellobiids are edible and are harvested for food in some regions.