Tropidophora cuveriana PETIT 1841
Mollusca: Gastropoda: Prosobranchia, Superfamily Littorinoidea, Family Pomatiasidae


This interesting large prosobranch land snail was thought to be extinct for long, until recently a vital population was discovered in the north of Madagascar.
The specimen shown here, along with a second one, were brought to Europe by Bruno Briano who kindly gave them to me for study.
The specimen shown here is a male, the other one being a female. The shape of the aperture and the shell - size identify the sex in this group of gastropods.

A characteristic feature of the Prosobranchia is the eyes being situated at the base of the tentacles, and it has a large, horny operculum.
This can be observed in most marine snails while in the group of the terrestrial Pulmonate snails the eyes are usually situated on the tip of the tentacles.


As in all Pomatiasids the foot is split in two parts by a longitudinal groove. The snail moves by alternately moving the lobes of the foot, causing the impression that the snail is "walking".


Tropidophora cuveriana seems to feed exclusively on lichens (a symbiotic compound of algae and fungus). We have fed it with Lecanora species, and other types of lichens.

Tropidophora cuveriana is night active but not actually shy when exposed to light. We hope to keep these beautiful animals alive and perhaps toget them breed.
The study of the anatomy of these large Tropidophoras promises a lot of insight on evolutionary aspects of the family.
Physiological studies on how the extraordinary food is being digested and which substitute food could be given might aid to find ways of how to preserve this species from extinction.

First uploaded June 1999, by F. Lorenz & J. Kratzsch