Melampus coffea

Melampus coffea, commonly known as the coffee bean snail, is a species of small air-breathing salt marsh snail, a pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Ellobiidae.[1]

Melampus coffea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Eupulmonata
Superfamily:
Ellobioidea
Family:
Ellobiidae
Subfamily:
Melampinae
Genus:
Melampus
Subgenus:
Micromelampus
Species:
M. coffea
Binomial name
Melampus coffea
Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms
  • Auricula biplicata Deshayes, 1830
  • Auricula coniformis (Bruguière, 1789)
  • Auricula olivula Küster, 1844
  • Bulimus coniformis Bruguière, 1789
  • Bulla coffea Linnaeus, 1758 (original combination)
  • Ellobium barbadense Röding, 1798
  • Melampus coffeus [sic] (misspelling)
  • Melampus microspira Pilsbry, 1891
  • Voluta coffea (Linnaeus, 1758)

Distribution

The coffee bean snail is found on both coasts of Florida and throughout the Caribbean.

Description

The maximum recorded shell length is 23 mm.[2]

Ecology

Minimum recorded depth is -0.3 m.[2] Maximum recorded depth is 0.3 m.[2]

This small snail is commonly found in the intertidal zone of mangroves amongst the roots and branches. It is similar in appearance to Melampus bidentatus and the two are often confused. Melampus bidentatus is slightly larger and is more likely to be found in a salt marsh as opposed to mangrove habitat for Melampus coffea.

Like other species of Melampus, the coffee bean snail is one of the few pulmonate snails to reproduce via planktonic larvae called veligers (Ruppert & Barnes 1994). Upon hatching, the veligers will spend between 4–6 weeks in the plankton, and then return to the mangroves on a high tide, and metamorphose into juvenile snails.

This species is a detritivore and herbivore, foraging upon fresh and decaying mangrove leaf litter. The coffee bean snail engages in vertical migration leading up to the time of high tide, in order to escape inundation and the increased risk of predation by various fish species.[3][4][5]

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References
  1. Rosenberg, G. (2014). Melampus coffea (Linnaeus, 1758). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=420640 on 2015-02-24
  2. Welch J. J. (2010). "The "Island Rule" and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". PLoS ONE 5(1): e8776. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008776.
  3. Andrews, J. 1994. A field guide to shells of the Florida coast. Gulf Publishing Co. Houston, Texas. USA. 182 pp.
  4. McIvor C. C. & Smith T. J. III. (1995). "Differences in the crab fauna of mangrove areas at a southwest Florida and a northeast Australia location: implications for leaf litter processing". Estuaries. 18: 291-597.
  5. McKee K. L. & Faulkner P.. (2000). "Restoration of biogeochemical function in mangrove forests". Restor. Ecol. 8: 247-259.
  • Rosenberg, G., F. Moretzsohn, and E. F. García. 2009. Gastropoda (Mollusca) of the Gulf of Mexico, Pp. 579–699 in Felder, D.L. and D.K. Camp (eds.), Gulf of Mexico–Origins, Waters, and Biota. Biodiversity. Texas A&M Press, College Station, Texas
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