See text Helicinidae is a family of small tropical land snails, terrestrial operculate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Helicinoidea.

The name "Helicinidae" immediately reminds most people of "Helicidae", the most well-known group of land snails including e.g. Helix pomatia, but the important two letters "ni" only from the Latin diminutive of the latter name alluding to superficial similarities of otherwise completely different things.

These snails are found in tropical and subtropical areas but they have an odd distribution: they are restricted to the Caribbean islands and some Indo-Pacific and Pacific islands, as well as the edge of the Asian and Australian continents.

Some species are found in the southern United States, from Louisiana to Florida; others in Central and South America.

Helicinidae belongs to superfamily Helicinoidea according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).