Snail information/ID NW Indiana

I am looking for any information about snails (and bivalves) in the kankakee outwash plain in NW Indiana. i have grown up seeing these beautiful snails in a lake, and i would love to know if anyone knows what they are. I have read many reports Indiana DNR have on the website related to the lake, but I cannot find the information I am looking for and I am also disturbed by not finding very large mussel shells like I did when I was a kid. i would be very greateful if anyone knew where I could get any information on the native snails and mussels of NW Indiana/Greater Chicago region.


These pics are the best I have thus far, and the colour of the snail is a bit off.




Some information on the snails: In their natural habitat, I have seen them in sand in the shallow waters. You can follow their trails and pick them up easily and there are many. They shoreline of the lake when I find them has been pretty much stripped of aquatic vegetation, as with probably 90% of the lake. This lake used to have a great diversity of shoreline and aquatic plants, but unfortunately, this lake is very developed and residents find aquatic vegetation unsightly. The lake is also very shallow, most of the area I look for the snails is up to 3 feet deep, clear, sandy, free of vegetation.They disappear when boating seasons begins because of all the turbidity, also there is watermilfoil and bad algae outbreaks in the summer. These snails are probably 2.5-3 cm long, have an operculum, and they shell is an orange-tan going into slate colour banding at the tip of their shells, when seen under natural lighting.



FYI, the Nature museum in Chicago's Lincoln Park has a great exhibit on inverts collected in the later 19th century in the Joliet area. Lots of beautiful snails and mussels.

It's great that you joined the forum mantighoul. I cannot specifically help you but I can say that often while locally sampling (the Kankakee and other local waters) a person that helped assemble the collection at the Nature Museum attends these trips and would be very willing to help you. I always learn a ton on these trips and you're very welcome to come along.

It's great that you joined the forum mantighoul. I cannot specifically help you but I can say that often while locally sampling (the Kankakee and other local waters) a person that helped assemble the collection at the Nature Museum attends these trips and would be very willing to help you. I always learn a ton on these trips and you're very welcome to come along.

Thanks for the information. I would love to come along one day, give me an excuse to come out before the sandhill cranes and Jasper-Pulaski. I was going to do a mussel collection with the Aquarium, but they didn't do it this year, unfortunately. Also, I grew up near the Little Calumet, nice to see someone from my area that cares about our local freshwaters. I would really love to find out about these snails one day because I grew up with them.

I have read an interesting book lately called the "Natural History of the Chicago Region". I picked it up at the Field Museum. An interesting note, a nice section deals with the Kankakee outwash plain, and the information it gave compared the region in Indiana to the Everglades, and all the work they did dredging, straightening, draining, and blowing up a natural limestone dam in Illinois. Seems like a great loss to our region. Does the information this book present seem to be correct?