Coffee Bean Snail
Melampus coffea
Markings and exact colorations may vary.
A small, glossy brown snail shaped like a coffee bean, often with pale spiral bands.
- Typical size
- 0.5–0.75 in
- How often it turns up
- Common in mangroves
- Collecting
- Check local rules
- Handling
- Safe to handle
Mangroves are protected in Florida. Empty shells are fine to look at; leave live snails on their roots.
How to tell it apart
- Small oval shell with a short, low spire
- Glossy brown with 2–3 pale bands
- Narrow aperture with teeth on the inner lip
Where to find these in Florida
Beaches rated very good or excellent for shells. Each page shows today’s score, the best window and access details.
- Anclote Key Preserve State Park · Tarpon Springs
- Bean Point · Anna Maria
- Beer Can Island (Greer Island) · Longboat Key
- Boca Grande Public Beach · Boca Grande
- Bowman's Beach · Sanibel
- Captiva Beach · Captiva
- Cayo Costa State Park · Cayo Costa
- Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park · Naples
- Don Pedro Island State Park · Cape Haze
- Dr. Julian G. Bruce St. George Island State Park · St. George Island
- Gasparilla Island State Park · Boca Grande
- Gulfside City Park (Algiers Beach) · Sanibel
Found one?
Photograph it and BeachNut ranks the likely matches with a confidence read, then logs it to your collection with the beach and date.
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Commonly confused with
Eastern MelampusMelampus bidentatus
Coffee bean snail is glossier with a low spire and pale bands; eastern melampus is thinner with a taller spire.
More shells in the field guide
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