Facts
Did you know...
M. mitchellianus has a globose shell meaning that it is
glo
be-like (Featured Creatures, 2011). The
shell is made out of calcium carbonate, just like the shells of
many other snail species (Featured
Creatures, 2011). Without this calcium carbonate in
their shell they would be unable to grow and it would cause the
shell to be weak and would ultimately lead to the death of the
snail (Featured Creatures, 2011). In order to
obtain the calcium from the soil the snail breaks it down using
enzymes secreted from their foot (Featured
Creatures, 2011).
They then absorb the calcium so it can be secreted by the
mantle in order to form the shell
Mesodon mitchellianus is a unique species because it has a closed umbilicus (Binney, 1885). This is unlike many other Mesodon species, for example M. clausus and M. thyroidus, which have an open umbilicus (Binney, 1885). M. mitchellianus has a closed umbilicus because the end of the lip from the last whorl covers the opening of the umbilicus (Binney, 1885).
The shell of M. mitchellianus is thin and lacks pores (Binney, 1885). The snail also has a glossy and translucent surface (Binney, 1885).
A close relative to the sealed gobelet is Mesodon thyroidus (Blinn,1963). This air-breathing terrestrial land snail is nocturnal, which is therefore active during all hours of the night. During the night, one of its main activities is tree climbing (Blinn, 1963). It climbs to various elevations so it can eat the leaves and the parasitic fungi found on the trunk (Blinn, 1963).