Southwest Florida Shells

by José H. Leal

Family Ellobiidae

Melampus coffea

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Coffee Melampus

Shell size to 20 mm; shell ovate-conical, widest at posterior third, more angled at shoulder and base than M. bidentatus. Columella with two folds. Outer lip thin, internally ribbed. Color reddish-brown, usually with 2-3 broad, cream bands. Found on Mangrove roots and mud flats. Additional images show a large aggregation of Coffee Melampus on a red mangrove branch. Those two images were taken by Lorin Buckner in South Fort Myers, in 2017.