Another new species
by Ian Bushell
During the working party tasks last Wednesday, when the Friends were trying to clear the stream of obstructions – mostly logs and other bits of timber thrown into the stream probably by children playing – something caught my eye.
On a piece of wood pulled from the bottom of the stream, there was this little Catherine wheel shape. I looked harder and realised it was a tiny snail shell about 7 or so mm across. The shell was empty but I had nothing to put it in that would keep such a fragile thing safe. So did the next best thing and placed it on a Sorrel leaf on the bank and took its picture. This weekend I checked with an entomologist and we believe it is a Whirlpool Ramshorn snail, Anisus vortex. It’s not particularly rare, but it’s a new species for our records, and for its size a really lucky find.
Header picture: whirlpool ramshorn snail taken in the park by Ian Bushell
Gallery pictures: whirlpool ramshorn snail by Wim Rubers (CC BY 3.0) wikimedia.org
Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve 