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Euconulus fulvus

(Muller, 1774)

Brown Hive Snail

G5Secure Found in 6 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.118750
Element CodeIMGAS70020
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryInvertebrate Animal
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumMollusca
ClassGastropoda
OrderStylommatophora
FamilyHelicarionidae
GenusEuconulus
Other Common Names
Brown Hive (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 Date2020-09-28
Change Date2002-10-08
Edition Date2020-09-28
Edition AuthorsCordeiro, J. (2008), rev. M. Ormes (2020)
Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences> 300
Rank Reasons
This is a widespread species with many occurrences and no evidence of population declines at a global scale.
Range Extent Comments
This species is Holarctic. Subspecies egenus ranges from east of the Ural Mountains in Russia to the Atlantic coast in northeastern USA and Canada, north into the arctic tundra and south into Mexico along the Rocky Mountains. Subspecies fulvus ranges from Iceland and Atlantic Europe to just east of the Ural Mountains in Russia (Horsáková et al. 2020).
Occurrences Comments
There are many occurrences of this widespread species.

Forsyth (2005) documented it in the Upper Fraser Basin of central British Columbia where it is the most common land snail in the region. Forsyth (2005) also documented it in British Columbia in the Peace River- Northern Rockies region at several sites up as far as the alpine zone. Most recently, it was discovered in the Ktunaxa Traditional Territory in southeastern British Columbia (which extends from near Canada - U.S. border north to about 50 km north of Cranbrook) (Ovaska and Sopuck, 2009). It is distributed throughout Alberta in all natural areas (Lepitzki, 2001). Hubricht (1985; specimens in FMNH) reported Pleistocene fossils for this species in Missouri, however the recent Missouri fauna consists of Euconulus chersinus, with which it is often confused (Pilsbry, 1946) (MO NHP, pers. comm., December 2006). It occurs in eastern Maine (78 of 101 sites) where it is common throughout the region in all habitat types (Nekola, 2008). In New York, Hotopp and Pearce (2007) report most counties. Baxter (1987) cites occurrences in Alaska across much of the state; also Roth and Lindberg (1981) in Attu (Aleutian Islands). It was recently documented in 13 of 82 soil samples and 6 area spot searches of Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota, in 2002 (Anderson, 2005).
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

This species occurs in a variety of habitats, from mixed hardwood forests to grasslands across the entire soil moisture and acidity gradient. It is often under layers of moist leaf litter, but also in creek and river drift, grasslands across the entire soil moisture and acidity gradient (Dourson 2013, Horsáková et al. 2020).
Terrestrial Habitats
Forest/WoodlandForest - HardwoodGrassland/herbaceous
Other Nations (2)
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
VermontSNRYes
IllinoisSNRYes
TexasSNRYes
New YorkSNRYes
MississippiSXYes
MichiganSNRYes
New MexicoSNRYes
MarylandSNRYes
OhioSNRYes
AlaskaSNRYes
OklahomaSHYes
MassachusettsSNRYes
KansasSXYes
IndianaSXYes
MinnesotaSNRYes
CaliforniaSNRYes
MaineSNRYes
KentuckyS4Yes
TennesseeS4Yes
WashingtonS5Yes
Navajo NationS5Yes
North CarolinaSUYes
MontanaS5Yes
West VirginiaS5Yes
VirginiaS4Yes
NebraskaSXYes
IdahoS4Yes
PennsylvaniaS3Yes
New HampshireSNRYes
South DakotaSNRYes
WyomingSNRYes
WisconsinS5Yes
New JerseySNRYes
UtahS2Yes
IowaSNRYes
CanadaN5
ProvinceRankNative
OntarioS4Yes
New BrunswickS4Yes
Yukon TerritoryS4Yes
ManitobaS4Yes
QuebecSNRYes
AlbertaS5Yes
Prince Edward IslandSUYes
Nova ScotiaSUYes
LabradorS5Yes
SaskatchewanS3Yes
British ColumbiaS5Yes
Island of NewfoundlandS5Yes
Northwest TerritoriesS4Yes
Roadless Areas (6)
California (1)
AreaForestAcres
San Gabriel AddAngeles National Forest2,527
New Mexico (1)
AreaForestAcres
Brushy MountainGila National Forest7,199
Utah (4)
AreaForestAcres
418003Uinta National Forest10,912
418004Uinta National Forest16,661
Hog RanchDixie National Forest17,130
Right Hand Fork LoganWasatch-Cache National Forest15,023
References (17)
  1. Anderson, T.K. 2005. Land snail diversity in Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota. Western North American Naturalist, 65(2): 186-195.
  2. Baxter, R. 1987. Mollusks of Alaska: a listing of all mollusks, freshwater, terrestrial, and marine reported from the State of Alaska, with locations of the species types, maximum sizes and marine depths inhabited. Shells and Sea Life, Bayside, California. 163 pp.
  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. Felix, Z. I., M. A. Dubuc, and H. A. Rana. 2019. A tentative list of the land snails of Georgia, U.S.A. Georgia Journal of Science 77(2), Article 8. Available at: https://digitalcommons.gaacademy.org/gjs/vol77/iss2/8
  7. Forsyth, R.G. 2005a. Terrestrial gastropods of the Upper Fraser Basin of British Columbia. Living Landscapes, Royal British Columbia Museum: Victoria, British Columbia. 26 pp.
  8. Forsyth, R.G. 2005b. Terrestrial gastropods of the Peace River- northern Rockies region of British Columbia. Living Landscapes, Royal British Columbia Museum: Victoria, British Columbia. 23 pp.
  9. Horsáková, V., J.C. Nekola, M. Horsák. 2020. Integrative taxonomic consideration of the Holarctic Euconulus fulvus group of land snails (Gastropoda, Stylommatophora). Systematics and Biodiversity 0(0): 1–19
  10. 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.
  11. Hubricht, L. 1985. The distribution of the native land mollusks of the eastern United States. Fieldiana: Zoology 24:1-191.
  12. Lepitzki, D.A.W. 2001. Gastropods: 2000 preliminary status ranks for Alberta. Unpublished report prepared for Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, Fish and Wildlife Division, Edmonton, Alberta. 126 pp.
  13. Nekola, J.C. 2008. Land snail ecology and biogeography of eastern Maine. Final report submitted to: Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife and the Aroostook Hills and Lowlands Inventory, January 27, 2008. 119 pp.
  14. Ovaska, K. and L. Sopuck. 2009. Surveys for terrestrial gastropods at risk within Ktunaxa Traditional Territory. Report prepared for British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Victoria, British Columbia. 27 pp.
  15. Pilsbry, H.A. 1946. Land Mollusca of North America (north of Mexico). Volume 2, Part 1. Monograph of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 2(1): 1-520.
  16. Roth, B. and D.R. Lindberg. 1981. Terrestrial mollusks of Attu, Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Arctic, 34(1): 43-47.
  17. 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.