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Home/Species/ White-lip Globe Snail

Mesodon thyroidus

(Say, 1816)

White-lip Globe Snail

G5Secure Found in 6 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
UnknownThreat Impact
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.110174
Element CodeIMGAS95350
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryInvertebrate Animal
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumMollusca
ClassGastropoda
OrderStylommatophora
FamilyPolygyridae
GenusMesodon
Synonyms
Polygyra thyroidus
Other Common Names
White-lip Globe (EN)
Concept Reference
Turgeon, D. D., J. F. Quinn, Jr., A. E. Bogan, E. V. Coan, F. G. Hochberg, W. G. Lyons, P. M. Mikkelsen, R. J. Neves, C. F. E. Roper, G. Rosenberg, B. Roth, A. Scheltema, F. G. Thompson, M. Vecchione, and J. D. Williams. 1998. Common and scientific names of aquatic invertebrates from the United States and Canada: Mollusks. 2nd Edition. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 26, Bethesda, Maryland. 526 pp.
Conservation Status
Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2
Review Date2025-09-16
Change Date2002-10-08
Edition Date2025-09-16
Edition AuthorsT. Cornelisse
Threat ImpactUnknown
Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences> 300
Rank Reasons
This species has a large range, many occurrences, and populations appear to be relatively stable across its range, although threats to the species are unknown.
Range Extent Comments
This species occurs in southeastern Canada in Ontario and Quebec and in the eastern United States from South Dakota and Minnesota to Maine, south to Florida and west to Texas (Freeman and Perkins 1992; Orstan 1999; Lewis 2005; Waggoner et al. 2006; Dourson and Feeman 2006; Hotopp and Pearce 2007; Schroeder 2008; RARECAT 2025; InvertEBase 2025).
Occurrences Comments
This species is known from > 2000 occurrences using a 1 km separation distance and records from 1994-2025 (Orstan 1999; Lewis 2005; Waggoner et al. 2006; Dourson and Feeman 2006; Hotopp and Pearce 2007; Schroeder 2008; RARECAT 2025; InvertEBase 2025).
Threat Impact Comments
Threats to this species are unknown.
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

This species is found in many habitat types, including floodplain forests, meadows, marshes, roadsides, and urban areas (Dourson 2013; Brand et al. 2020).
Terrestrial Habitats
Forest/WoodlandGrassland/herbaceousOld fieldUrban/edificarian
Palustrine Habitats
Bog/fenRiparian
Other Nations (2)
CanadaN3
ProvinceRankNative
QuebecSNRYes
OntarioS3Yes
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
ArkansasSNRYes
ConnecticutSNRYes
AlabamaSNRYes
TexasS4Yes
VirginiaS5Yes
OklahomaSNRYes
New YorkSNRYes
FloridaSNRYes
New JerseySNRYes
WisconsinS5Yes
TennesseeS5Yes
MississippiSNRYes
KentuckyS5Yes
MarylandSNRYes
MaineSNRYes
IowaSNRYes
NebraskaSNRYes
South CarolinaSNRYes
District of ColumbiaSNRYes
IllinoisSNRYes
KansasSNRYes
PennsylvaniaS4Yes
DelawareSNRYes
West VirginiaS5Yes
LouisianaSNRYes
IndianaSNRYes
North CarolinaS5Yes
MinnesotaSNRYes
MissouriSNRYes
VermontSNRYes
OhioSNRYes
GeorgiaSNRYes
MichiganSNRYes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
Unknown/undetermined———

—

Roadless Areas (6)
Georgia (1)
AreaForestAcres
Ellicott Rock AdditionChattahoochee National Forest690
Kentucky (1)
AreaForestAcres
WolfpenDaniel Boone National Forest2,835
North Carolina (3)
AreaForestAcres
Harper CreekPisgah National Forest7,325
Lost CovePisgah National Forest5,944
Wilson CreekPisgah National Forest4,863
West Virginia (1)
AreaForestAcres
East Fork Of GreenbrierMonongahela National Forest7,167
References (17)
  1. Brand, M.E., Rechkemmer, W.T., Clark, S.A., McCravy, K.W., Lydeard, C., Meiers, S.T. and Jenkins, S.E., 2020. The influence of fire and other environmental factors on terrestrial gastropod species composition in an oak-hickory woodland of west-central Illinois. American Malacological Bulletin, 38(1), pp.39-49.
  2. Dourson, D. and K. Feeman. 2006. A survey of terrestrial Mollusca in selected areas of the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. Journal of the Kentucky Academy of Science, 67(1): 9-18.
  3. Dourson, D.C. 2010. Kentucky's land snails and their ecological communities. Goatslug Publications, Bakersville, NC. 298 pp.
  4. Dourson, D.C. 2013. Land snails of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and southern Appalachians. Goatslug Publications, Bakersville, NC. 336 pp.
  5. Dourson, D C. and West Virginia DNR. 2015. Land snails of West Virginia. Goatslug Publications, Bakersville, North Carolina. 412 pp.
  6. Freeman, P.W. and K. Perkins. 1992. Survey of mollusks of the Platte River: Final Report. Report to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Grand Island, Nebraska, March 1992. 28 pp. + app.
  7. Grimm, F.W. 1971. Annotated checklist of the land snails of Maryland and the District of Columbia. Sterkiana, 41: 51-57.
  8. Hotopp, K. and T.A. Pearce. 2007. Land snails in New York: statewide distribution and talus site faunas. Final Report for contract #NYHER 041129 submitted to New York State Biodiversity Research Institute, New York State Museum, Albany, New York. 91 pp.
  9. Hubricht, L. 1985. The distribution of the native land mollusks of the eastern United States. Fieldiana: Zoology 24:1-191.
  10. InvertEBase. 2025. Online. Available: https://invertebase.org/portal/index.php.
  11. Lewis, J.J. 2005c. Bioinventory of Caves of the Cumberland Escarpment Area of Tennessee. Final Report to Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency & The Nature Conservancy of Tennessee. Lewis & Associates LLC, 158 pp.
  12. Orstan, A. 1999. Land snails of Black Hill Regional Park, Montgomery County, Maryland. The Maryland Naturalist 43(3-4):20-24.
  13. Phillips, E.K., Yanes, Y., Muruganantham, K. and Pearce, T., 2022. Dietary Niche Partitioning Among Sympatric Terrestrial Gastropods in a Temperate Woodland. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2207716/v1
  14. <p>NatureServe's Rapid Analysis of Rarity and Endangerment Conservation Assessment Tool (RARECAT). 2025. Version: 2.1.1 (released April 04, 2025).</p>
  15. Schroeder, L. 2008. The reluctant explorer. American Conchologist, 36(2): 32-34.
  16. Turgeon, D. D., J. F. Quinn, Jr., A. E. Bogan, E. V. Coan, F. G. Hochberg, W. G. Lyons, P. M. Mikkelsen, R. J. Neves, C. F. E. Roper, G. Rosenberg, B. Roth, A. Scheltema, F. G. Thompson, M. Vecchione, and J. D. Williams. 1998. Common and scientific names of aquatic invertebrates from the United States and Canada: Mollusks. 2nd Edition. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 26, Bethesda, Maryland. 526 pp.
  17. Waggoner, J., S.A. Clark, K.E. Perez, and C. Lydeard. 2006. A survey of terrestrial gastropods of the Sipsey Wilderness (Bankead National Forest), Alabama. Southheastern Naturalist, 5(1): 57-68.