Euconulidae


Euconulidae is a taxonomic family of minute, air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks or micromollusks. This land snail family is closely allied to the Zonitidae, the glass snails.

Taxonomy

The family Euconulidae was placed within the superfamily Gastrodontoidea according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda.

Distribution

The distribution of the Euconulidae includes the Nearctic, the western-Palearctic, the eastern-Palearctic, the Neotropical zone, the Ethiopian zone, Malagasy, south-eastern Asia, Australia, Polynesia and Hawaii.

Shell description

These minute snails have a shell which is roundly conical and broad-based, like the shape of an old-fashioned European woven bee hive or skep. For this reason these snails are sometimes known as "hive snails".
The shells of most Euconulidae are only about 3 mm in size, amber-colored and translucent.

Anatomy

In this family, the number of haploid chromosomes lies between 26 and 30.

Genera

Subfamilies and genera in the family Euconulidae include:
Euconulinae
Microcystinae
The following cladogram shows the phylogenic relationships of this family with the other families within the limacoid clade: