Land snails of the genus Oxyloma are characterized by thin, tapering yellow to amber-colored shells of .3 to .8 inches in length. Other features include 2 to 4 whorls terminating in a small protruding spire and a large ovate aperature with a smooth, sharp lip. The snail body is large and cannot fully retract into the shell, bluntly rounded at the front and tapering behind, with both eye peduncles and tentacles being very short and thick.
Snails of this group are most often found alongside wetlands, lakes and rivers (Burch 1962). Oxyloma peoriense is frequently seen crawling on cattails (Hubricht 1985).
needed in: Inland lake, littoral, benthic.
Gaining a better understanding of abundance, distribution and specific habitat requirements of the depressed ambersnail is necessary, as little information on the species is currently available. General land snail management depends greatly on habitat conservation including the prevention of habitat fragmentation and the loss of canopy and vegetative ground cover. Limiting heavy anthropogenic disturbance, which can destroy fragile land snail microhabitats, is also a priority. Herbicide/insecticide spraying should be kept to a minimum where vulnerable land snail populations are present, as the chemicals and heavy metals contained in many products are quickly bioaccumulated (Berger and Dallinger 1993, Prezio 1999, Regoli et al. 2006) and cause major shifts in feeding and reproductive behaviors (Notten et al. 2006).
Burch, J.B. 1962. How to Know the Eastern Land Snails. William C. Brown Company Publishers, Dubuque. 214 pp.
Hubricht, L. 1985. The Distributions of Native Land Mollusks of the Eastern US. Field Museum of Natural History. Fieldiana: Zoology, No. 24.
Prezio, J.R., M.W. Lankester, R.A. Lautenschlager, F.W. Bell. 1999. Effects of alternative conifer release treatments on terrestrial gastropods in regenerating spruce plantations. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 29(7):1141-48.