Strange Black Ambersnail (color variation or exotic snail?)

[astana]

Hey everyone,

So I was at a greenhouse when I found this snail sitting on a leaf on one of the potted plants (can't recall what species the plant was...)

Anyway, it had a conical shell, so I immediately assumed it was some sort of ambersnail. But it was... black?

Here are some pictures:

Aerial view of snail

Size comparison to my hand (my hand is tiny, so.... make of that what you will....)

Side view

I searched up some possible species for this little guy, but the closest match (and they're almost identical) is

some critically endangered species called the Kanab Ambersnail. But I don't live in the area of the U.S. where it is located.

What do you guys think?

[sparrow]

It certainly does look like an exact match for a Kanab Ambersnail! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanab_ambersnail
What a lucky find. I certainly hope this little fellow survives for you. Even though you don't live in the area, it's possible little "Kanab" came along in the soil of one of your plants.

Honestly, I would try to contact one of the departments listed since this is listed as a "critically endangered" species since 1992 and see if they can offer any information on how best to keep him.

www.arkive.org/kanab-amber-snail/oxyloma-kanabense/
www.gcmrc.gov/research_areas/kanab_ambersnail/kanab_ambersnail_default.aspx

[Cashell]

Definitely looks like something from the Succineidae family, and it looks like sparrow has figured out the species.

[astana]

Ebony (that's what I decided to call her for the time being) seems to be doing fine. At first I put her in the container with the other juvenile snails, but I now realize that she's probably an adult and am going to prepare a separate one for her
Luckily, it seems that she enjoys the consumption of cucumbers. She also sits on them (perhaps because they're moist, like the wetlands that the Kanab ambersnail lives in?)

If she really is a Kanab ambersnail... I don't know if it's legal for me to keep a critically endangered species of snail, so I think I'll contact the department like you suggested, Sparrow.

[sparrow]

I think if little Ebony is a Kanab Amber Snail, the departments would be ecstatic to hear from you! Less concerned about the legality - you found something special!!
The main reason I would contact is to find out the proper care of the little one. (I'd keep her!)

Here's a 5 year review published in 2011:
ecos.fws.gov/docs/five_year_review/doc3885.pdf

I believe you're in Washington (read it in a post, I think??), so I would contact the Washington State Fish & Wildlife Service: 360-902-2200 to find out what to do.
Normally, endangered species are "left alone", but finding this snail not anywhere near the only two places it is normally found, Arizona and Utah, will likely create a special circumstance.

[astana]

Oh no... it turns out Kanab amber snails only live 15 months or so... and their prime dying time is midsummer....
My hope is that Ebony can lay eggs. As an adult, she may be carrying some with her.

[sparrow]

Yes, I read that as well and hopefully she may be carrying eggs.
Just remember, her 15 months is an entire lifetime to her and now she has you to care for her.
Have you tried different foods with her and does she have a cuttlebone?

[astana]

May 29, 2015 12:51:59 GMT sparrow said:

Yes, I read that as well and hopefully she may be carrying eggs.
Just remember, her 15 months is an entire lifetime to her and now she has you to care for her.
Have you tried different foods with her and does she have a cuttlebone?

My snails may be pickier than other snails.... they refuse to have their calcium in large chunks and so I have to grind the cuttlebone up. I decided to feed them ground eggshells instead, as it's easier to ground. Ebony doesn't seem to like eggshells that much, so I may have to try cuttlebone again.

So far, I've tried cucumbers (her favorite), lettuce (she's okay with this) and sweet potato (either wasn't hungry or disliked, as she didn't eat it.)

[sparrow]

A couple weeks ago, I found a little dot of an ambersnail on one of my indoor dracaena plants! I don't know how it survived, as I soak all my plants when I water and use fertilizers. Perhaps it was just an egg in the soil and hatched. It was so tiny, I had to use a magnifying glass to make sure it was indeed a snail! It has grown very quickly and has a voracious appetite! (I can see why these little creatures may be considered pests - she eats all day!)

I have Micro-Snaggle in a one gallon fish bowl with a leaf of Romaine (which she eats with gusto). I am using a potato peeler to shave super thin slices of sweet potato, carrot and apple, all of which she seems to enjoy equally. I added spirulina and a single flake of moistened fish food (also spirulina based) and she's a happy little camper. Her hidey place is a terracotta pea-pot (smallest that can be found) where I also place her food. She is active all day and then burrows into the soil in the late afternoon when it starts getting much warmer. I am keeping the soil soggy since they seem to prefer marshes.

Although this is a short-lived species, there is an upside - "It can reproduce by self-fertilization and lays few eggs; however, it lays year round." So maybe Ebony will leave you with offspring as well!
idtools.org/id/mollusc/factsheet.php?name=Succineidae

[astana]

Adorable! And self-fertilization? That's good news for me!

[sparrow]

Thanks!
Been meaning to post for over a week, but yes, that is good news for you / us.
She's a busy little snail! They are also attracted TO light, which I found kind of neat.

Don't have a camera with macro, but the pic below is pretty much what Micro-Snaggle looks like. (Still deciding on a good name for her.)

[astana]

Something about amber snails makes them absolutely adorable. Look at that little face, with those little eyes.

[sparrow]

Finally got a couple photos of "Samuka", pronounced "shaamuka" (Bengali for "snail")



She's getting a little bigger so I can actually see her without glasses!

[astana]

Ahhhhh, she's so small and adorable! Looks like she's doing okay, which is great.

[sparrow]

Figure I might as well keep updates for Samuka here. Feel like she has a little company with Ebony.

Uploaded a few new photos here: phaedra-and-zaharina.weebly.com/samuka.html

This is the first time I've seen her second set of antennae and her little stripe is becoming more distinct. Samuka seems to get a little bigger every day.

[astana]

Ebony barely shows her second set of antennae. It seems amber snails don't show them very often, which makes them look very sweet.

I'm glad to hear that Samuka is doing so well! I believe Ebony is a full adult, but it very tiny despite that

[sparrow]

I was so surprised when I saw them in the photo! I sincerely did not see the second set before. They have such cute pudgy little faces.
They are very tiny snails and I think Ebony is always going to be bigger than Samuka! I think my little one will only grow to about 15mm and she's just about that size now.
She really loves Spirulina flakes and 100% pure Spirulina granules. She's eating more Romaine than Snagglepuss ever did and she seems to be ingesting a good deal of soil.
I look at her one minute and she's nibbling on her carrot or sweet potato shaving and a couple minutes later she's at the top of the Romaine leaf. I never seem to see her moving. It's like she waits until I walk away and then "flies" to the top of the Romaine! She's a sneaky little snail!

[astana]

Unfortunately, Ebony died today. I'm not really sure how.
She was eating and sleeping normally just a few days ago, and then she just... died. I found her splayed out in the tank, unmoving, and the little Columbiana didn't take

a single nibble of her, so I thought she could be alive. That was not so.
Her tankmate, a baby Vespericola Columbiana, was doing just fine so I'm fairly certain that it wasn't
anything I did that made her pass away....
The most likely theory is that she died of old age. Amber snails, especially the species that I was
suspecting she was, only live 15 months and generally pass away after laying their eggs in the summer.
She didn't have any eggs, but she was an eye-opener for me. I will always miss little Ebony with
her solemn, little black eyes and elegant shell.

See you around Ebony

[sparrow]

Oh Astana,

I am so very sorry. I don't know what else to say.
Yes, unfortunately amber snails don't have a long life span, but Ebony had you and your friends here at the forum, to enjoy her, see how pretty she was and now to always remember her.
We shall all miss you, little Ebony.

Love,
Leah

[Liguus]

Sorry for your loss. This looks like an amazing amber snail! Sorry if this is sensitive, but if you preserve it in alcohol maybe the exact species could be determined. No guarantee but I could show it to some zoologists who know quite a bit more than me about snails.

[astana]

Jul 8, 2015 2:56:22 GMT Liguus said:

Sorry for your loss. This looks like an amazing amber snail! Sorry if this is sensitive, but if you preserve it in alcohol maybe the exact species could be determined or it could become a museum specimen. No guarantee but I could show it to some zoologists who know quite a bit more than me about snails.

Unfortunately I didn't think of that at the time. She was looked very sad all sideways like that, so I just buried her beneath a tree so that she could give some life back to the world after she died. While her body is probably too late to preserve, I may be able recover her shell. Her color seemed faded though, even after her having passed away possibly a few hours ago...

[mangoandlemon]

I am so sorry.