James,
Firstly, they are terrestrial, living in drier areas near the shore.
Residential areas are good, landscape plantings, etc.  They are a member of
the widespread family, Subulinidae.  Let's see, what do they look like?
They are shaped somewhat like a Melanella (but no eccentric growth) or a
Pyramidella as far as the lower whorls and aperture go.  They are brownish
in color in life and are usually about an inch or so long, and sculptured
with sometimes strong sprial incised lines.  The upper whorls are missing
in adulthood, hence the specific name, decollata (decollate), so the "top"
is flat and appears broken off.  Actually, the upper whorls are sealed off
inside by a septum and these whorls are shed for some reason known only to
them.  They are originally from the Mediterranean area and illustrations
can be located in various books such Abbott's Compendium of Land Shells, pg
84 and Cameron and Kearney's brief treatment of some of the Mediterranean
species included in their book on the land snails of western Europe (don't
have it handy for pagination).
 
Hope that helps.
 
Happy hunting.
 
Kurt
 
 
At 03:04 PM 2/22/99 -0600, you wrote:
>Kurt, I live in Gulf Breeze, next to pensacola.
>Could I find these "Rumina"? What do they look
>like? Where can I find them?
>
>Let me know,
>James C.
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