The ICZN opinion, number 2176, preserved the name Turbo bidens Linnaeus, 1758, and indicated implicitly that the name Helix papillaris Müller, 1774 was a junior synonym of the same species.

In 2009 Kadolsky [2] reviewed the nomenclatural history of the name Turbo bidens and concluded that a neotype designation proposed by Falkner et al. (2002) was invalid because it was not based on an existing specimen but on a figure of Papillifera papillaris published by Gualtierus (1742), which did not agree with Linnaeus' description of Turbo bidens, and which Linnaeus did not quote.

This neotype is a specimen from Florence (where Gualtierius lived and where he might conceivably have collected) of the clausiliid species hitherto known as Cochlodina incisa (Küster, 1876).

[10] The genus name Papillifera means "bearing papules", in other words having pimples, a reference to the small white shell structures along the suture line.

[11] This species has been introduced and has become established throughout the Mediterranean region, including Malta,[12] Spain (Catalonia[7] and Balearic Islands), Gibraltar, the south coast of France, Great Britain, Croatia (Susak), Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Turkey (since 330 AD or before),[13][14] Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.

But the process is continuing: in 2009–2010, Papillifera papillaris imported on Italian limestone blocks were found to have survived overwinter in a stonemason's yard near Stuttgart, Germany.

These small snails shelter in the many nooks and crannies of the travertine marble stonework; presumably they feed on lichens that grow on the surfaces of the stone.

Subsequent to the publicity surrounding this find, it was pointed out that the same species had already been recorded in 1993 from Brownsea Island, Dorset in southwest England.