Euspira glaucinoides

Euspira glaucinoides

(J. Sowerby, 1812)

Common name Moon Snail
Fossil group Molluscs
Order Littorinimorpha
Family Naticidae
Genus Euspira
Taxonomic status Accepted
Geological age Ypresian

Summary

Euspira glaucinoides was a moon snail, a mobile predatory gastropod of soft marine sediment. Naticids typically move just beneath or across sand and mud using a large muscular foot.

It was probably molluscivorous. Like living moon snails it likely hunted other molluscs and could have drilled shells using the radula and accessory secretions, although individual drill holes cannot normally be assigned to this species alone.

Quick Identification

Look for: a smooth, rounded moon-snail shell with a low spire, a very large body whorl and a broad crescent-shaped aperture.

Diagnostic Features

  • Shell globose with the body whorl dominating the total height.
  • Spire low and relatively small.
  • Surface smooth apart from fine growth lines.
  • Aperture large, rounded-ovate and expanded.
  • Umbilical region present but not forming the broad open disc of architectonicids.

Fossil Details

Typical size
About 11 mm; adults are centimetre-scale.
Fossil material
Shell, Internal Mould / Cast
Preservation
Smooth shells lose few decorative characters, but crushing and abrasion readily distort their proportions. The outer lip is often broken and the umbilical region may be obscured by matrix; both should be exposed before comparing naticids.

Similar Species

Recorded Fossil Sites

References

  • Rundle, A. J. (1970). Report of a Field Meeting to Abbey Wood, Kent. Tertiary Times, 1, 20–23 View reference
  • Wrigley, A. (1931). The Lower Eocene Mollusca of Abbey Wood and of High Halstow, Kent. The Vertebrate Faunas of the English Eocene, 1, 110–112. British Museum (Natural History), London View reference
Last Reviewed
15 August 2026 Reviewed by Sam Harris