Description: A depressed, tightly coiled shell with last whorl broader than in the related V. contracta. Surface smooth, glossy, greenish-white to white in colour. Umbilicus very narrow and slightly eccentric. Often has a whitish thickening set back from the shell aperture. The digestive gland is usually a uniform pale colour with few darker streaks, seen through the shell. Widespread in sheltered places. 3-4 mm.

World Distribution: With a slightly more northerly range in Europe than V. contracta and not reaching the Mediterranean. Distribution type: European Temperate (73).

Irish Distribution: Widely distributed and common on all but deep peat soils.

Ecology:

• Mainly in shaded habitats
• Also occasionally in fens and marshes
• Usually in deep leaf litter or moss, rarely in soil unlike V. contracta

Key Identification Features:

• A medium-small, glassy, depressed and tightly coiled shell
• Last whorl about 1.5X the width of the previous whorl
• Umbilicus very narrow and excentric (not evenly round)
• Often has a whitish thickening set back from the shell aperture
• The digestive gland is usually a uniform pale grey or brown without dark streaks, seen through the shell

Red list status:

• Least concern (lc).

Distribution Map from NBN: Vitrea crystallina at National Biodiversity Network mapping facility, data for UK.

iNaturalist: Vitrea crystallina at iNaturalist World Species Observations database.

GBIF data for Vitrea crystallina | Classification: Gastropoda, Stylommatophora, Pristilomatidae, Vitrea

Thumbnails for genus Vitrea