Cryptomastix devia

Cryptomastix devia, from Auburn, Washington, USA.

Cryptomastix (Cryptomastix) devia (Gould, 1846)
Puget Oregonian

  • Helix devia Gould 1846 (1846–1850): 165.
  • Helix baskervillei L. Pfeiffer 1850: 130.

Identification. Shell depressed-globose. Spire conical, sides slightly convex. Periphery rounded, medial. Whorls ca 6, convex. Suture moderately indented. Protoconch initially smooth, then granular. Teleoconch with low, coarse, irregular striae and shallow spiral lines. Aperture subovate-lunate, wider than high. Apertural denticle in adults: parietal tooth long, curved. Umbilicus small, partly overhung by the columellar lip. Shell opaque, semi-glossy or semi-matte, yellowish brown; lip and parietal denticle whitish. Shell to ca 20–23 mm wide (wider than high).

Habitat. Unknown for Canada but moist, lowland forests in Washington and Oregon.

Global range. South-western BC, south through western Washington to the Columbia Gorge, Oregon (Pilsbry 1940, Vagvolgyi 1968).

Canadian range. This species is believed to be extirpated in Canada (COSEWIC 2002), not recently found in BC, where it is known from three historical records: “Vancouver’s Island” (Pfeiffer 1850, as Helix baskervillei), Esquimalt, Vancouver Island (Taylor 1889), and Sumas Prairie (Dall 1905).

Etymology. Latin, devius, “solitary” or “out of the way”.

Helix baskervillei, reproduced from Shuttleworth (1877: pl. 14 fig. 1).

  • COSEWIC (2002) COSEWIC assessment and status report on the Puget oregonian snail Cryptomastix devia in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, Ottawa, vi + 20 pp. https://wildlife-species.canada.ca/species-risk-registry/virtual_sara/files/cosewic/sr_puget_oregonian_snail_e.pdf
  • COSEWIC (2013) COSEWIC status appraisal summary on the Puget Oregonian Cryptomastix devia in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, Ottawa, xv pp. https://sararegistry.gc.ca/virtual_sara/files/cosewic/sas_escargot_puget_oregonian_1213_e.pdf
  • Dall WH (1905) Land and fresh water mollusks. Harriman Alaska Expedition, Vol. 13. Doubleday, Page and Co., New York, 1–171, pls 1–2.
  • Gould AA (1846–1850) [Shells collected by the United States Exploring Expedition under the command of Charles Wilkes.] Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History 2: 141–145, 148–152 [July 1846]; 153–156, 159–162, 165–167 [August 1846]; 170–173, 175–176 [September 1846]; 177–179, 180–184, 185–187, 190–192 [“November 1846”; probably between 16 December 1846 and March 1847]; 196–198, 200–203, 204–208 [March 1847]; 209, 210–212, 214–215, 222–224 [June 1847]; 225, 237–239 [July 1847]; 251–252 [December 1847] • 3: 73–75 [November 1848]; 83–85, 89–92 [March 1849]; 106–109 [April 1849]; 118–121, 140–144 [May 1849]; 151–156, 169–172 [January 1850]; 214–219 [May 1850]; 252–256 [June 1850], 276–278 [July 1850]; 292–296, 309–312 [November 1850]; 343–348 [December 1850].
  • Pfeiffer L (1850) Descriptions of twenty-four new species of Helicea, from the collection of H. Cuming, Esq. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, with Illustrations for 1849 17: 126–131.
  • Shuttleworth RJ (1878) Notitiæ Malacologicæ oder Beiträge zur näheren Kenntniss der Mollusken. II. Heft, enthaltend: I. Monographische Versuche: Paryphanta, Retinella, Mesomphix, Macrocyclis, Patera, Columna, Streptostyla, Rhynchocheila und Trochatella. (Explication des planches inedites de Shuttleworth par le Dr P. Fischer). Stämpfli’sche Buchdruckerei, Bern, Switerland, 16 pp.15 pls. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.10570
  • Vagvolgyi J (1968) Systematics and evolution of the genus Triodopsis (Mollusca: Pulmonata: Polygyridae). Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Bulletin 136: 145–254.