CreatureData

Dune snail

Theba pisana (O. F. Müller, 1774)

Status not recordedsnails and slugs

The dune snail (Theba pisana) is a species in the family Helicidae.

No freely licensed photo yet

Quick facts about the dune snail

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the dune snail live?

Not recorded

Where has it been introduced?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the dune snail as introduced in 13 countries, and flagged as invasive in 1 of them.

  1. South Africainvasive
  2. Albania
  3. Algeria
  4. Australia
  5. Belgium
  6. Egypt
  7. Ireland
  8. Mexico
  9. Morocco
  10. Mozambique
  11. Saudi Arabia
  12. United Kingdom
  13. United States

Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).

Is the dune snail endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the dune snail classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumMollusca
  3. classGastropoda
  4. familyHelicidae
  5. genusTheba
  6. SpeciesTheba pisana (O. F. Müller, 1774)

Synonyms Cernuella metabola, Euparypha pisana, Helicella pisana, Helix albella, Helix catocyphia, Helix metabola, Helix petholata, Helix pisana, Helix pisana var. alba, Helix pisana var. bidassoensis, Helix pisana var. flavocincta, Helix rhodostoma, Janthina alba, Theba lucostoma

Other names and names in other languages (36)
  • Banded snailEnglish
  • Mediterranean coastal snailEnglish
  • Mediterranean sand snailEnglish
  • Mediterranean white snailEnglish
  • Pisana helixEnglish
  • Sandhill snailEnglish
  • Spanish snailEnglish
  • White gardensnailEnglish
  • White Italian snailEnglish
  • White snailEnglish
  • DuineslakAfrikaans
  • حلزون الحديقة الأبيضArabic
  • CaragolíCatalan
  • dunovka proměnliváCzech
  • DünenschneckeGerman
  • Άσπρα ΧοχλιδάκιαGreek
  • Caracol de las DunasSpanish
  • Hélice de PiseFrench
  • דרחול השיחHebrew
  • Mediteranski hrpašCroatian
  • Bovolo delle duneItalian
  • マジョルカコマイマイJapanese
  • zandslakDutch
  • Caracol-das-TascasPortuguese
  • Теба пизанскаяRussian
  • kërmilli i dunaveAlbanian
  • dynsnäckaSwedish
  • Beyaz Bahçe SalyangozuTurkish
  • 比薩茶蝸牛Chinese
  • CaragolinaCatalan
  • Mittelmeer-SandschneckeGerman
  • MittelmeersandschneckeGerman
  • Σαλιγκάρι των ΑμμοθινώνGreek
  • Caragouille roséeFrench
  • chiocciola delle duneItalian
  • Caracol-das-cervejariasPortuguese

Catalogue of Life

Relatives of the dune snail

Other species in the same genus Theba.

CompareDune snail vs Theba andalusicaDune snail vs Theba arinagaeDune snail vs Theba cartaxensisDune snail vs Theba chudeaui

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

Is the dune snail an invasive species?

In some places. The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species flags the dune snail as invasive in 1 country: South Africa. It lists it as introduced in 13 in all.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-13. How this page is put together.

Embed a card for this animal on your own site

Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.

Preview the card

APA

CreatureData. (2026). Dune snail (Theba pisana). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/dune-snail

MLA

“Dune snail (Theba pisana).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/dune-snail.

BibTeX
@misc{dune_snail_2026,
  title = {Dune snail (Theba pisana)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/dune-snail},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-13}
}