Helicinidae is a family of small tropical land snails which have an operculum. They are terrestrial operculate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Helicinoidea.
These snails are not at all closely related to the air-breathing land snails, despite a superficial similarity of the shells. The name "Helicinidae" immediately reminds most people of "Helicidae", the most popular group of land snails including e.g. Helix pomatia, but the important two letters "ni" only from the Latin diminutive of the latter name alluding to superficial similarities of otherwise completely different things.
These snails are found in tropical and subtropical areas but they have an odd distribution: they are restricted to the Caribbean islands and some Indo-Pacific and Pacific islands, as well as the edge of the Asian and Australian continents. Some species are found in the southern United States, from Louisiana to Florida; others in Central and South America.
Helicinidae belongs to superfamily Helicinoidea according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).[2]
This family consists of six following subfamilies (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005):