
Shell of the Week: The Amber Melampus
The Amber Melampus, Creedonia succinea (Pfeiffer, 1854), is another local member of the Ellobiidae, a family of air-breathing snails. Shells reach about 3.5 mm (about 1.4 inch), are oval-elongate, translucent, very fragile, thin, with a glossy surface and no perceptible sculpture. The aperture is large, and typically bears two columellar plaits, or “teeth,” with the posterior (“top”) tooth twice as large as the anterior one. The shell color is variable, generally translucent amber, light-brown,