DELTA HYDROBE SNAIL

photo courtesy Steve Cringan

Delta Hydrobe Snail
Probythinella emarginata

Federal Status:
None

State Status:
Threatened

• Range:
  Dark Blue = Counties with designated critical habitat
  Light Blue = Historical records
• Comments: The Delta Hydrobe Snail is small in size and distinctly shaped. Its shell measures 0.1 inch in length. The flattened apex at the shell spire gives this snail a unique appearance. It is a gill-breathing aquatic snail. It had been documented within the state only as fossil specimens from the Pleistocene until the discovery of a relict population on Cedar Creek in Chase County. This is the only population known to occur in Kansas. The next nearest known population is 250 miles to the east in Osage County, Missouri. There are only five species of gill-breathing snails in Kansas. All of them are highly sensitive to pollution. The presence of this animal indicates the good water quality of this spring-fed stream.

Other Gastropods on the Kansas T&E List