Pomatias elegans

Pomatias elegans, common name the round-mouthed snail, is a species of small land snail with an operculum, a terrestrial gastropod mollusk in the family Pomatiidae within the superfamily Littorinoidea, the winkles and their allies.

The surface of the shell is reticulated with dark spots and discontinued bands of beige and violet colours.

The thick and chalky operculum has an eccentric calcified nucleus, and bears a spiral sculpture.

This snail lives only in areas where there are high levels of calcium carbonate such as on limestone or chalk rock, and where there is loose and friable soil.

The survival of this species is threatened in Central Europe by intensive farming, also in vineyards by habitat destruction, fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides and fungicides.

Presence of Pomatias elegans in European countries.
Live but retracted individual showing shell and operculum with its eccentric nucleus
Shell
Pomatias elegans in motion
A live but inactive individual of Pomatias elegans