Family: Succineidae
Common name: Mudbank Ambersnail
Discovery: Pilsbry, 1900
Identification
Width: 5-6.4 mm
Height: 7.6-10.8 mm
Whorls: 2-3
Mediappendix vagans has an elongate, inflated shell that is translucent amber and has a very large, ovate aperture. The aperture is most of the fragile shell’s length, and the shell’s first (nuclear) whorl is quite low. The snail’s body markings consist of dark speckles or bands on a cream-colored background (Pilsbry, 1948; Franzen, 1981).
Ecology
This snail is found on damp soil or mud, sometimes among litter, at the edge of freshwater ponds (Franzen, 1981).
Taxonomy
Taxonomy of succineid snails is problematic, with many described species and forms that are not easily distinguished. A variety of this species in North Carolina recognized by Pilsbry (1948) was later described as Catinella waccamawensis Franzen, 1981. Hubricht (1985) treated this species as part of M. oklahomarum.
Distribution
The distribution of Mediappendix vagans is very poorly known – previously it has been reported at Cape May, New Jersey (the type locality), and widely in Kansas (Leonard, 1959). In Virginia, putative specimens of M. vagans have been collected only at Yorktown.
Conservation
NatureServe Global Rank: G3, Vulnerable.
NatureServe State Rank: New Jersey, S1S3; not listed in Delaware or Virginia.
