Both snails together were known as the banded dune snail.

Cernuella neglecta, the dune snail, is a species of small air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Hygromiidae.

As an undergraduate he studied sand dune snails on the island of Tiree in the Inner Hebrides, subsequently undertaking a doctoral study on the earthworms of the machair and further ecological research.

The refuge also provides habitat for other endangered species, including the California tiger salamander (recently listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act), California red-legged frog, Morro blue butterfly, shoulder band dune snail, and 16 rare or endangered plant species.