These snails are not at all closely related to the air-breathing land snails, despite a superficial similarity of the shells. The name "Helicinidae" immediately reminds most people of "Helicidae", the most popular group of land snails including e.g. Helix pomatia, but the important two letters "ni" only from the Latin diminutive of the latter name alluding to superficial similarities of otherwise completely different things.
Distribution
These snails are found in tropical and subtropical areas but they have an odd distribution: they are restricted to the Caribbean islands and some Indo-Pacific and Pacific islands, as well as the edge of the Asian and Australian continents. Some species are found in the southern United States, from Louisiana to Florida; others in Central and South America.
^Richling I. (2014). "Poorly explored jewels of the tropics: Estimating diversity in non-pulmonate land snails of the family Helicinidae (Gastropoda: Neritopsina)". American Malacological Bulletin32(2): 246-258. doi:10.4003/006.032.0216.
^Wenz W. (1938). "Teil 1: Allgememeiner Teil und Prosobranchia". In: Schindewolf O. H. (ed.) Handbuch der Paläozoologie, Band 6, Gastropoda, Borntraeger, Berlin, 6(1): 1-240. pages 53-54.
^Mollusc Specialist Group (1996). Sturanyella carolinarum. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 17 June 2011.
Further reading
Richling I. (2001). "New species of Helicinidae from Costa Rica (Gastropoda: Neritopsina)". Schriften zur Malakozoologie17: 1–8. Cismar.
Richling I. (2004). "Classification of the Helicinidae: Review of Morphological Characteristics Based on a Revision of the Costa Rican Species and Application to the Arrangement of the Central American Mainland Taxa (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Neritopsina)". Malacologica45(2): 195–440.
Richling I. (2004). "Coloration in Helicinidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Neritopsina)". Malacologia46(1): 217–224.
Richling I. (2005). "Biographical remarks on Dr. Antoni Józef Wagner and the collection of Helicinidae in the Museum and Institute of Zoology in Warszawa". Folia Malacologica13(4): 197–206.
Richling I. & Glaubrecht M. (2008). "The types of Neotropical Helicinidae (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Neritopsina) in the Malacological Collection of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin: an annotated catalogue, with emphasis on Cuban land snails". Zoosystematics and Evolution84(2): 265–310. doi:10.1002/zoos.200800011.
Richling I. (2009). "The Radiation of the Helicinidae in New Caledonia (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Neritopsina) including zoogeographical considerations". In: Grandcolas P. (ed.). "Zoologia Neocaledonica 7. Biodiversity studies in New Caledonia". Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle198: 247–372. Paris. abstract
species specific reading:
Richling I., Franke S., Fernánndez V. A. & Sigaretta V., S. (2007). "New data on the micro-land snails Eutrochatella (Microviana) spinopoma Aguayo 1943 and Eutrochatella (Microviana) holguinensis Aguayo 1932 (Neritopsina: Helicinidae) in the province of Holguín, eastern Cuba". Schriften zur Malakozoologie23: 19–24. Cismar.
