Have you seen this snail?

The San Gabriel Chestnut snail. Credit: Cedric Lee

If you’ve hiked in the San Gabriel Mountains north of L.A., chances are you’ve stepped into the home of a rare native land snail called the San Gabriel Chestnut. Little information about this  species exists, though that may be changing, thanks to a citizens science campaign.

The quarter-sized gastropod with a shiny brown shell was first described in 1938. It could be one of the dwindling species that stands to lose big-time as plans move forward to build homes on undeveloped land in Glendora and other parts of the San Gabriel Valley foothills. 

Jann Vendetti from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles will give a presentation about the Chestnut snail and L.A.’s native land snails 7:30 p.m. April 19 in Suite 1103 at the Chapter Office, 3250 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. All are invited to attend. 

Habitat destruction is a major threat to biodiversity worldwide and particularly to the sensitive habitats of Southern California’s land snails. A 2009 survey of L.A. County identified more than a dozen land snail species, many considered critically endangered. It’s not known how many Glyptostoma gabrielense, the species’ scientific name, are left in its original range and how fragmented the range has become. Because snails move slowly and can’t get around easily, populations could get completely isolated from one another with the addition of a highway, housing complex, baseball diamond, etc. 

Also, land snails are particularly susceptible to fires because they can’t move quickly enough to escape the flames.

How do we know if they still exist? Because people find them and share their photos online at SLIME (Snails and Slugs Living in Metropolitan Environments), an initiative by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County that aims to create a survey of the biodiversity of Southern California’s land snails and slugs.

Find out how to file your findings at Project SLIME.

Learn how to get involved with the Sierra Club’s efforts to save habitat for the San Gabriel Chestnut and other native species. Contact Joan Licari, chair of the San Gabriel Valley Task Force, (626) 330-4229, jlicari2013@gmail.com.

Jann Vendetti, malacological researcher at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, and naturalist Cedric Lee contributed to this story.