They are commonly called amber snails because their thin fragile shells are translucent and amber-colored. They usually live in damp habitats such as marshes.[2]
Succineidae is the only family in the superfamily Succineoidea.[3]
The soft parts of the animal appear to be too large for the shell.[2]
Anatomy
In this family, the number of haploidchromosomes varies greatly. The most common totals are less than 10, and also lies between 21 and 25, but other values are also possible (according to the values in this table).[4]
Subfamily Hyalimacinae Godwin-Austen, 1882: synonym of Succineinae H. Beck, 1837
Subfamily Oxylomatinae Schileyko & I. M. Likharev, 1986: synonym of Succineinae H. Beck, 1837
Amphibina W. Hartmann, 1821: synonym of Succinea Draparnaud, 1801
Amphibulima Gistel, 1848: synonym of Succinea Draparnaud, 1801 (Invalid: unnecessary substitute name for Succinea; also a junior homonym of Amphibulima Lamarck, 1805)
Arborcinea Iredale, 1937: synonym of Succinea Draparnaud, 1801
Brachyspira L. Pfeiffer, 1855 †: synonym of Succinea (Brachyspira) L. Pfeiffer, 1855 represented as Succinea Draparnaud, 1801
Cerinasota Iredale, 1939: synonym of Succinea Draparnaud, 1801
Cochlohydra A. Férussac, 1821: synonym of Succinea Draparnaud, 1801
Homalonyx Ancey, 1881: synonym of Omalonyx d'Orbigny, 1838 (unjustified emendation)
Hydrophyga Lindholm, 1927: synonym of Succinella Mabille, 1871
Hydrotropa Lindholm, 1927: synonym of Oxyloma Westerlund, 18854* Lucena Hartmann, 1821: synonym of Succinea Draparnaud, 1801
Neohyalimax Simroth, 1896: synonym of Omalonyx d'Orbigny, 1838
Succinastrum J. Mabille, 1871: synonym of Succinea Draparnaud, 1801
Succinoides Schileyko, 1967: synonym of Oxyloma (Succinoides) Schileyko, 1967 represented as Oxyloma Westerlund, 1885
Tapada S. Studer, 1820: synonym of Succinea Draparnaud, 1801
Truella Pease, 1871: synonym of Succinea Draparnaud, 1801
Conservation status
The World Conservation Union (IUCN) considers five species or subspecies of ambersnail as threatened with extinction, and a further three species are categorized as "data deficient" which were previously considered Vulnerable or Extinct, and two species are listed as Near Threatened.[7]
^Barker G. M.: Gastropods on Land: Phylogeny, Diversity and Adaptive Morphology. in Barker G. M. (ed.): The biology of terrestrial molluscs. CABI Publishing, Oxon, UK, 2001, ISBN0-85199-318-4. 1-146, cited pages: 139 and 142.