Facilitating the protection and restoration of species and ecosystems at risk on BC’s South Coast
Pacific Sideband
Monadenia fidelis
Monadenia
fidelis
A member of the family Xanthonychidae (“air-breathing land snails”) this is the largest native terrestrial snail in BC. Monadenia species create “love darts”, tiny hardened projectiles used during courtship. Formerly provincially blue listed (special concern) this species is now considered secure, but due to its unique nature we have decided to continue profiling it!
A “pulmonate” snail, this species has evolved their mantle cavity into a lung (instead of gills as still found in some snails). Breathing is through a single opening on the right side of the body which either remains open or opens and closes.Shell diameter 3.5 cm+, shell diameter is 1.3 to 1.5 times shell height. The largest land snail in BC, the shell has 6.5 to 7 whorls with a thin black line along the bottom of each whorl. Shell colour ranges from chestnut to dark rose with vertical bands (sometimes lacking). Light, mustard coloured individuals are common at some localities; these light individuals lack the characteristic banding. Some island populations may have pale white shells with dark whorl lines. The body of this snail is rosy-pink or pinkish-brown and the surface of the flesh looks deeply wrinkled or “pebbly” in texture. The aperture lip of the adult shell is thin, not thickened or flared as with Oregon forestsnail.
Download Species Fact Sheet in PDF
Status
Global Status:
G4G5
Provincial Status:
S4
BC List Status:
Yellow (Not at risk of extinction)
RESOURCES
For further information see:
The climate is changing rapidly, and terrestrial ectotherms are expected to be particularly vulnerable to changes in temperature and water regime, but also to an increase in extreme weather events in temperate regions. Physiological responses of terrestrial gastropods to climate change are poorly studied.
A source for authoritative conservation information on thousands of plants and animals and hundreds of ecological communities in BC. From here connect to all provincial and federal recovery plans (including the SARA Registry), COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada), Identified Wildlife guidance and conservation requirements for specific species and ecological communities of conservation concern impacted by forestry activities) and links to E-Flora and E-Fauna (the Electronic Atlas of the Plants and Wildlife of British Columbia).
A joint venture resource providing comprehensive information on a range of species and ecological communities specific to the Coast Region of BC (including the South, Central and North Coast, Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii).
Environmental guidelines for urban and rural land development in BC.
Learn what species are at risk in your area, search by name, habitat type, regional district and forest district.
Credits
First edition Prepared in 2010 by Pamela Zevit RPBio for the South Coast Conservation Program (SCCP) with Kristiina Ovaska and Lennart, Sopuck Biolinx Environmental, in partnership with: International Forest Products (Interfor), Capacity Forestry (CapFor). Original funding was made possible through the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI)
This project was undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada. Ce projet a été réalisé avec l’appui financier du Gouvernement du Canada. Every effort has been made to ensure content accuracy. Comments or corrections should be directed to the South Coast Conservation Program: info@sccp.ca. Only images sourced from “creative commons” sources (e.g. Wikipedia, Flickr, U.S. Government) can be used without permission and for non-commercial purposes only. All other images have been contributed for use by the SCCP and its partners/funders only.
Last updated June 2017
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