| Helicinidae | |
|---|---|
| |
| A live individual of Helicina rhodostoma | |
| |
| A live individual of Alcadia conuloides | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Neritimorpha |
| Order: | Cycloneritida |
| Superfamily: | Helicinoidea |
| Family: | Helicinidae Férussac, 1822 |
| Genera | |
|
See text | |
| Diversity[1] | |
| 770-1400 species (estimation) | |
Helicinidae is a family of small tropical land snails which have an operculum. They are terrestrial operculate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Helicinoidea.
These snails are not at all closely related to the air-breathing land snails, despite a superficial similarity of the shells. The name "Helicinidae" immediately reminds most people of "Helicidae", the most popular group of land snails including e.g. Helix pomatia, but the important two letters "ni" only from the Latin diminutive of the latter name alluding to superficial similarities of otherwise completely different things.
- ^ Richling I. (2014). "Poorly explored jewels of the tropics: Estimating diversity in non-pulmonate land snails of the family Helicinidae (Gastropoda: Neritopsina)". American Malacological Bulletin 32(2): 246-258. doi:10.4003/006.032.0216.