About Melampus coffea (Linnaeus, 1758)
Scientific name: Melampus coffea (Linnaeus, 1758), commonly known as the coffee bean snail. The maximum recorded shell length of this species is 23 mm. It is distributed on both coasts of Florida and throughout the entire Caribbean region. The minimum recorded depth for this species is -0.3 m, while the maximum recorded depth is 0.3 m. This small snail is most commonly found in the intertidal zone of mangroves, living among mangrove roots and branches. It is similar in appearance to the related species Melampus bidentatus, and the two are often confused with one another. Melampus bidentatus is slightly larger than Melampus coffea, and is more likely to occupy salt marsh habitats, in contrast to the mangrove habitat preferred by Melampus coffea. Like other species in the genus Melampus, the coffee bean snail is one of the few pulmonate snails that reproduces via planktonic larvae called veligers, according to Ruppert & Barnes 1994. After hatching, veligers spend 4–6 weeks in the plankton. They then return to mangrove habitats on a high tide and metamorphose into juvenile snails. This species is a detritivore and herbivore, and forages on both fresh and decaying mangrove leaf litter. Before high tide arrives, the coffee bean snail carries out vertical migration to escape inundation and the elevated risk of predation by various fish species.
