Dear Aydin and Conch-L, You have asked a fair question. My first, unhelpful response is that the snail doesn't look like Haplotrema, and does look like Oxychilus. To be more helpful, let's see. I am looking at the pictures on http://members.telocity.com/~jlmw1815/snails and comparing them to Kerney & Cameron (1979 "Land Snails of Britain and North-west Europe", p. 123-124 and plates 9 & 10 (Oxychilus)), and Pilsbry (1946, "Land Mollusca of North America" pp 202-230 (Haplotrema)). I see (1) glossy surface: like Oxychilus, unlike Haplotrema (2) smooth surface with few, relatively widely spaced "growth" wrinkles: like Oxychilus, unlike Haplotrema (3) brownish shell color: like Oxychilus, unlike most Haplotrema, which usually have at least a hint of a yellow-green tint (4) body color dark bluish: like Oxychilus draparnaudi, unlike all the Haplotrema I can think of, which have very pale, almost white bodies (5) last whorl expands very rapidly (being about twice the width of the previous whorl: like Oxychilus draparnaudi, also like many Haplotrema species, but definitely unlike Helminthoglypta species. It is also unlike most Helminthoglypta in being so flat. Because the shell appears to have about 5 whorls, it is probably fully-grown or nearly so. The photos do not show the underside. If the shell is indeed Oxychilus draparnaudi, the umbilicus should be relatively small, only about 1/8 of the shell diameter. On the other hand, if the shell is Haplotrema, the umbilicus would be much larger, being a quarter to a third the shell diameter. Of course, for a reliable identification, the specimen should be sent to an expert for identification. Guesses can be made from examining photgraphs, but study of photographs cannot compare to study of the real thing. Best wishes, -Tim- Date: Fri, 26 Apr 2002 09:11:51 -0400 From: "Orstan, Aydin" Subject: Re: Carnivorous land snails Tim, How did you tell it wasn't Haplotrema? Adult Haplotrema concavum have a slightly thickened lip. I thought the snail in the picture could be a subadult with a still thin lip (or an Oxychilus). Aydin