Where’s Wildlife · Snail & Slug Field Guide
Oxyloma peoriense
Pronounced (approx.): ok-sih-LOH-muh pee-or-ee-EN-see
An ambersnail associated with wet vegetation; exact species identification needs more than shell color.
Depressed Ambersnail. Select the photo to browse the gallery. Photographs © Where’s Wildlife.
NATIVE TO NORTH AMERICA
Slug lengths refer to extended animals; snail measurements refer to the shell.
Thin, elongated shell with a large final whorl
Broad shell opening and short spire
Often climbing vegetation in wet places
Compare views, markings and body shapes in the photographs below.
Photograph the shell opening, spire and side, and include a scale. Shell shape varies within ambersnail species.
Other Oxyloma and Succinea can be extremely similar. Anatomy may be needed for a firm identification. These photos retain their existing Depressed Ambersnail association as provisional; the quiz tests Ambersnail recognition only.
Wetland plants, including cattails and nearby vegetation. The diet of this particular species is poorly documented. Look for ambersnails on vegetation in moist conditions.
Reported to rest and lay eggs within cattail leaf sheaths. Much of this species’ ecology remains poorly documented, so details from related ambersnails should not automatically be applied to it.
The shell is thin and its last whorl is conspicuously enlarged.
Amber tones alone do not establish the species.
Cattail sheaths can shelter resting snails and eggs.
Reported from southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States, west to Illinois and south to the Washington, DC–West Virginia area. Records depend on careful identification. Observation maps are not complete range maps.
Explore reported sightings on iNaturalist. Observation records are not a complete range map.
Photographs © Where’s Wildlife.