The sandbowl snail, Catinella arenaria, also known as Quickella arenaria, is a small species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of small air-breathing land snail

Snail

Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...

, a terrestrial

Terrestrial animal

Terrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land , as compared with aquatic animals, which live predominantly or entirely in the water , or amphibians, which rely on a combination of aquatic and terrestrial habitats...

 pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Succineidae

Succineidae

Succineidae are a family of small to medium-sized, air-breathing, land snails , terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. They are commonly called amber snails because their thin fragile shells are translucent and amber-colored...

, the amber snails.

Habitat

This snail lives in wet hollows among sand dunes. In the British Isles

British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...

 these areas are known as "dune slacks", and when in pristine condition, these hollows provide a specialized habitat for an unusual group of fauna

Fauna

Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...

 and flora

Flora

Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...

, which includes this species.

Distribution

This species occurs in areas including:

• The British Isles
  British Isles
  The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
  
  : Great Britain, Ireland. It is listed in List of endangered species in the British Isles. It is endangered in Great Britain. This species is fully protected in the United Kingdom under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
  Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
  The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom and was implemented to comply with the Directive 2009/147/EC on the conservation of wild birds...
  
   since 1981.

• Western Europe: France, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland

• Central Europe: Germany, Poland (Poland is listed in IUCN red list but is not listed in CLECOM-PROJECT list), Slovakia

• Northern Europe: Norway, Sweden.