Cerion (gastropod)

Cerion is a genus of small to medium-sized tropical air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropods in the family Cerionidae, sometimes known as the peanut snails. The genus is endemic to the Caribbean region.

The name Cerion is based on the Greek word kerion, signifying honeycomb, and is given to these shells because the form of the shell resembles that of a beehive; hence they were at one time known as beehive shells.

The fossil range of Cerion is possibly from the Upper Cretaceous of Montana, or the early Miocene of Florida. Records of Cerion in Pleistocene are rare.