📸 PhotoPhoto: ふうけ · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Ellobium chinense
Ellobium chinense (Ellobium chinense · オカミミガイ)
🇰🇷 Class II endangered wildlife (Korea)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Because coastal development such as building seawalls or shoreline maintenance is the main threat (National Institute of Ecology), this snail disappears when the grassy marshes at the edge of tidal flats vanish.
- 💡 Its shell height of 2.7 cm is almost the same as the diameter of a 500-won coin (about 2.65 cm).
- 💡 Its egg mass length of 30–35 cm is similar to or slightly longer than the long side of an A4 sheet of paper (29.7 cm).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
Ellobium chinense is a small snail that lives in grassy marshes at the uppermost edge of tidal flats where freshwater flows in.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
The shell is elongated oval with a conical spire and 7 whorls. The periostracum is yellow or blackish brown, and there are 3 strong folds on the columellar side of the aperture.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It feeds on organic matter in the sediment around its burrow and hibernates inside a burrow about 10 cm deep from November to March. In summer, it lays transparent gelatinous egg masses 30–35 cm long.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
It is an Endangered Wildlife Class II species distributed in tidal flats with freshwater inflow in Gyeonggi-do, Gyeongsangnam-do, Jeollanam-do, Jeollabuk-do, and Chungcheongnam-do. Coastal development such as roads, shoreline maintenance, and seawalls is a major threat.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List DD (2011) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/189403/8726910
- • 멸종위기 야생생물 Ⅱ급 — 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000042740 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000042740
- • IUCN Red List category DD — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • Korean protection status: Class II endangered wildlife (Korea)
- • catalogueoflife.org — B3R39
- • iucnredlist.org — 8726910
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000042740 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000042740
- • wikidata.org — Q5366100
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Okamimigai0905-1.jpg
- • nie.re.kr — view.do
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.