Lauria (Lauria) cylindracea (Mendes Da Costa, 1778)    
Chrysalis Snail

• Turbo cydindraceous [sic] Mendes Da Costa 1778: 89 [corrected Turbo cylindraceus in errata].
• Many additional synonyms in mostly Europe.

Identification. Shell subcylindrical to subovate. Spire tall, sides convex. Whorls ca 6, not very convex. Suture rather shallow. Protoconch smooth. Teleoconch with weak incremental lines/wrinkles. Aperture subovate, with teeth/lamellae within. Angular denticle short, narrow, slightly curved, and pointed, often connected to upper insertion of lip by a callus and continuing ca ½ whorl inwards. Juveniles with parietal and columellar spiral lamellae, fully internal, radiating basal denticles. Lip expanded, recurved in adults. Umbilicus small, rounded. Shell subtranslucent, pale brown; lip whitish. Height to 4.1 mm (higher than wide).

Animal grey, paler on the sides and sole of foot, and with darker head and tentacles (Reeve 1863, Barker 1999). Tail of crawling animals short and not extending behind the shell (Barker 1999).

Habitat. In gardens (especially unkempt), on waste ground, and in adjacent wooded areas. In leaf litter and under vegetation, including ivy, dead wood, stones, and concrete debris, bricks, lumber, and other debris.

Biology. Ovoviviparous, and during times of drought, the release of young may be delayed, presumably to afford protection of the young from desiccation. This species is relatively long-lived for a small snail, living for about 4–5 years in Israel (Heller et al. 1997, Arad et al. 1998). Aphally is unknown in this species, in contrast to many other species within the Orthurethra.

Global range. Palaearctic: Europe and the Mediterranean region east to the Caucasus and Turkey, Israel, Crimea, Ukraine; Transcaucasia and possibly Daghestan and West Köpet Dagh (Welter-Schultes 2012, Sysoev & Schileyko 2009). Introduced to South Africa, several Atlantic islands, Reunion Island, New Zealand, and Canada.

Canadian range. Introduced to southwestern British Columbia, including southern and south-eastern Vancouver Island (north to at least Nanaimo), the Gulf Islands, and Greater Vancouver. One record at Sardis near Chilliwack (Holm 1988). This species was first recorded in the late 1980s and early 1990s (Holm 1988, 1994) and is now known to be widespread around the southern Strait of Georgia region (Forsyth 1999, unpubl. data).

Etymology. Latin, “cylindrical”.