At about 1/10 of an inch in diameter, the Suppressed Vitrinella, Cyclostremiscus suppressus (Dall, 1889), is one the many true micromollusks found on Sanibel and Captiva. A member of the family Tornidae, it has a circular, puck-shaped shell with three distinctive keels around the shell periphery. Well-defined grooves separate the keels from each other. The Suppressed Vitrinella is usually opaque-white or slightly translucent (shells of recently dead individuals). Its Latin specific name, supressus, in this case means “pushed down” or “flattened,” an allusion to typical shell shape.
The Suppressed Vitrinella, Cyclostremiscus suppressus, from Sanibel. Photo by José H. Leal.