Journal of Threatened
Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 July 2025 | 17(7): 27303-27307
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9008.17.7.27303-27307
#9008 | Received 03 March 2024 | Final received 19 May 2025 | Finally
accepted 26 June 2025
First record of an Amber Snail Succinea daucina Pfeiffer,
1855 (Gastropoda: Succineidae)
from Bihar, India
Dipty Kumari
1 , Dilip
Kumar Paul 2 , Sheikh Sajan 3 &
Tamal Mondal 4
1,2 Department of Zoology, Patna
University, Ashok Rajpath Road, Near Patna College,
Patna, Bihar 800005, India.
3,4 Malacology Division, Zoological
Survey of India, Prani Vigyan Bhawan, Block M, New
Alipore, Kolkata, West Bengal 700053, India.
1 imdipty.dk@gmail.com
(corresponding author), 2 dkpaul.pat31@gmail.com, 3 sksajan.sajan@gmail.com,
4 t_genetics@yahoo.com
Editor: P. Hari Praved,
Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin, India.
Date of publication: 26 July 2025 (online & print)
Citation: Kumari, D., D.K. Paul, S. Sajan
& T. Mondal (2025). First record of an Amber Snail Succinea daucina Pfeiffer,
1855 (Gastropoda: Succineidae)
from Bihar, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 17(7): 27303–27307. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9008.17.7.27303-27307
Copyright: © Kumari et al. 2025. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use,
reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium by providing
adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: None.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: The authors are thankful to the head of the Department of Zoology, Patna University and the director, Zoological Survey of India for the facilities provided. Author SS is supported by a ZSI (Zoological Survey
of India) post-doctoral research fellowship.
Succineidae Beck, 1837 is an Amber Snail’s
family, mostly amphibious, pseudo-amphibious, (semi-aquatic behavior that can
survive in moist environments but is not fully aquatic) or strictly terrestrial
creatures widely distributed across the globe (Rao 1924; Pilsbry
1948; Barker 2001). The highest diversity has been recorded in India, the
Pacific Islands, and the Americas (Pilsbry
1948; Patterson 1971; Barker 2001; Rundell et al.
2004). The succineids are currently placed in two
families and 20 genera , of which three are fossils (MolluscaBase 2021). Indian succineids
cover 27 species under five genera, of which 20 are endemic (Ramakrishna et al.
2010). The genus Succinea Draparnaud,
1801, is one of the most species-rich genera, with 225 species (19 species are
fossils) and is widely distributed across the world (MolluscaBase
2021). In India, this genus represents 17 species, of which 15 are endemic
(Ramakrishna et al. 2010). While working on the benthic diversity of urban
ponds in Patna by the first author, 10 shells of Succinea
daucina were collected from Sandalpur pond (25.6060 N, 85.1850 E)
(Image 1), and Phulwari Sharif pond (25.5810 N,
85.0770 E) (Image 2) in Patna. Photographs of specimens were taken from apertural, lateral, dorsal, apical, and umbilical sides
with a scale bar (Image 3). The specimens were identified based on the
published literature (Pfeiffer 1885; Mitra et al.
2004) and distinguished by their morphological characteristics. Additionally,
collected specimens were compared with specimens housed in the National
Zoological Collection of the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata. The current
taxonomic status of Succinea daucina is as follows:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Stylommatophora
Superfamily: Succineoidea
Family: Succineidae
Genus: Succinea
Species: Succinea
daucina L. Pfeiffer 1855
Succinea daucina,
described by Pfeiffer from Calcutta [=Kolkata] in 1855 from Cuming’s
collection, is an air-breathing land snail, commonly called Amber Snails. The
shell of S. daucina is
characterized by a thin and medium sized shell, a fragile, ovately
conical body, an inflated body whorl, and a short, twisted spire. The color of
the shell is pale white to amber, rounded at the base, with three increasing
whorls, with the last being the largest whorl. The species was previously
distributed in Tripura and part of the West Bengal States of India (Pfeiffer
1885; Raut et al. 1997; Mookherjee et al. 2000; Mitra et al. 2004; Ramakrishna et al. 2010; Tripathy & Sajan 2022).
Limited literature is available on the dimensions. A size-dependent study on
growth and reproduction was carried out by Nandy et
al. (2023), where the authors showed the size class (2–12 mm) shell length,
among which shell length , which achieved sexual
maturity, was 6–7 mm. In the present study, different measurements, i.e. height
(H) , width (D), height of last whorl (LW), height of
aperture (HA), and width of aperture (WA), were taken for the specimens (n=10).
Specimens’ shell height (H) varied from 5.5–8.8 (Table 1). Spire ratio varied
between 0.02–0.18 mm (mean±SD = 0.09±0.04) (Table 1).
Three whorls are present, increasing in size at the base. The observed
specimens of Succinea daucina
were found to have a smooth and slightly convex profile. The body whorl
of S. daucina is disproportionately large,
which is a typical characteristic of snails in the Succineidae
family. The body whorl is inflated and occupies most of the shell’s volume,
making the aperture relatively large compared to the overall shell size. The
edge of the shell was thin, while its surface texture was smooth, glossy, and
translucent. The specimen exhibited an oval to conical body. These specimens of
S. daucina had a slightly twisted columella
without a visible fold. Fine and subtle growth lines were also seen on the
specimens. There was a lack of prominent microsculpture
on the obtained shells. The color of the observed specimens was pale honey
color to pale white in dry form. A labelled diagram of the diagnostic feature
of the collected specimen is presented in Image 4. Some comparisons are also
made between related species of Succinea,
which helps in the identification of this particular species (Table 2). Two infraspecifics, Succinea
daucina f. burmanica
Rao 1928 from “Hsenwi and Old Lashio,” Burma
[=Myanmar]; and Succinea daucina f. hraswasikhara
Rao 1924 from “Madras” have been described, which are now considered synonyms
of S. daucina (Table 3).
Moreover, the presence of S. daucina in Patna, Bihar, is not surprising and may have
resulted from active dispersal through forest connectivity. All the locations
are present in the same eastern zone of Indian boundaries, and with the present
record, it is apparent that S. daucina is
leading its way across boundaries, indicating its existence in urban cities.
The existence of S. daucina cannot be denied
from the border area across Bihar. Thus, extensive surveys are required to get
a current update on the population of S. daucina
which would further aid in understanding the distribution pattern of the
species.
Table 1. Minimal values (min), maximal values (max), mean (M) and
standard deviation (SD).
|
|
Min–max (mm) |
M±SD (n=10) |
|
Height (H) |
5.5–8.8 |
6.91±0.97 |
|
Diameter (D) |
3.9–5.9 |
4.34±0.60 |
|
Height of aperture (HA) |
3.7–6.7 |
5.4±0.73 |
|
Height of last whorl (LW) |
4.5–7.5 |
6.2±0.80 |
|
Width of aperture (WA) |
3.2–5.5 |
3.71±0.67 |
|
Spire ratio (SR) |
0.02–0.18 |
0.09±0.04 |
Table 2. Comparison between related Succinea
species.
|
Characteristics |
Succinea daucina Pfeiffer, 1855 |
Succinea putris Linnæus, 1758 (Prokhorova et al. 2020; Barman et al. 2021; www.animalbase) |
Succinea baconi Pfeiffer, 1854 (Barman et al. 2021) |
|
Shell shape |
Broader, ovate to elliptical
shell; more pointed. |
Conispiral. |
More elongated and tapered
shell. |
|
Number of whorls |
3 |
3–4 |
NA |
|
Body whorl |
The body whorl is
disproportionately large. |
Most of the shell is made up by the last
whorl, which opens with a large oval aperture strongly tapering near the
columella. |
More balanced whorl structure. |
|
Surface texture |
Smooth, glossy shell with
minimal micro sculpture. |
|
Fine growth lines and subtle
striations. |
|
Columellar structure |
Slightly twisted columella
without a visible fold (pronounced). |
Relatively simple and
unpronounced. |
Moderately twisted, with a
subtle fold, more pronounced than in Succinea
putris. |
|
Shell colour
|
Pale yellow to white, with a
glossy finish without streaks |
Amber yellow with a reddish hue |
Amber color with streaks
generally yellow or greyish. |
Table 3. The distribution pattern of Amber Snails Succinea
daucina Pfeiffer, 1855.
|
|
Species |
Locality |
References |
|
1 |
Succinea daucina Pfeiffer, 1855 |
Calcutta [=Kolkata] |
Pfeiffer (1855
["1854"]) |
|
2 |
Succinea daucina Pfeiffer, 1855 |
Calcutta and Port Canning, West
Bengal, India |
Rao (1924) |
|
3 |
Succinea daucina f. hraswasikhara Rao, 1924 |
Madras, India |
Rao (1924) |
|
4 |
Succinea daucina f. burmanica Rao, 1928 |
Hsenwi and Old Lashio,
Burma [= Myanmar] |
Rao (1928) |
|
5 |
Succinea daucina Pfeiffer, 1855 |
Gopal chak,
Contai, West Bengal, India. |
Raut et al. (1997) |
|
6 |
Succinea daucina Pfeiffer, 1855 |
Ampinagar, Tripura, India |
Mookherjee et al. (2000) |
|
7 |
Succinea daucina Pfeiffer, 1855 |
West Bengal, Myanmar |
Mitra et al. (2004) |
|
8 |
Succinea daucina Pfeiffer, 1855 |
Kolkata, West Bengal, India |
Nandy et al. (2022) |
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