Mudflat Snail

Common name: Mudflat Snails; Spiral Snails; Asian Hornsnail

Authors: Elliot Scott-Bigsby & Sayde Koetke

Scientific name: Batillaria cumingi

Size: Up to 3 cm (1 ¼”) in length

Identifying features: Shells are small, long, and grey-brown with 8 or 9 distinct circles.

Habitat: Found in the mid- to high intertidal zones, including but not limited to salt marshes, mud flats, pannes in estuaries, riparian zones, and wetlands.

Despite their large numbers it is sometimes surprising to find out that Batillaria cumingi is an introduced species originating from Japan and parts of Asia.  In California this species is slowly replacing the native snail Cerithidea californica: the two species currently coexist in the bays in California. They can be found in bays in British Columbia down to California.

References

Harbo, R. M (1949). Whelks to Whales: Coastal Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest. Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing.

Klinkenberg, Brian. 2017. E-Fauna BC Atlas Page: Electronic Atlas of the Fauna of British Columbia. Retrieved November 9th, 2018 from http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/efauna/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Batillaria%20attramentaria

Dave Cowles (2009) Batillaria attramentaria (japanese false cerith,  false cerith, zoned cerith, screw shell, tall-spired snails), retrieved november 13, 2019 from:

https://inverts.wallawalla.edu/Mollusca/Gastropoda/Prosobranchia/Order_Mesogastropoda/Suborder_Taenioglossa/Family_Batillariidae/Batillaria_attramentaria.html