This week I hope to surprise you by presenting a local freshwater snail. The vast majority of the species treated in this column dwell either in the marine or brackish-water (estuaries, “backbay”) realms. Once in a blue moon I may introduce a local freshwater species, those living in very low salinity environments such as some of the local in-island ponds and ditches. The Carib Fossaria, Galba cubensis (Pfeiffer, 1839) is one of the locally found freshwater snails. A pulmonate snail, it breathes in open air, and may actually spend time out of the water, grazing above the water level. Its shell is about an inch long, delicate, thin, sometimes translucent, and its color is cream or light-brown. Shells of this species may be found on local beaches, to where they wash after heavy rains.
The Carib Fossaria, Galba cubensis, from Sanibel. Photo by José H. Leal.