New to shelling, need IDs please

[paul monfils]

If you are going to get very involved in shell collecting, you will need to become familiar with scientific names.  Many shells have multiple common names, just in English - as you noticed for Cepaea nemoralis - and many other common names in other languages.  But each shell has only one scientific name, which every collector in the world understands, regardless of what language he/she speaks.  Also, only the relatively well known species or species in popular families have any common name at all.  There are tens of thousands of species that have no common name.

Here are some common English names provided in the Compendium of Seashells - but there is nothing official about these names, and another book may give a different common name:

Pitar lupanaria - Prostitute Venus Clam - Yep, no kidding. That's what "lupanaria" means in Latin, and shells of this family are called "Venus Clams".

Cancellaria oblonga - Oblong Nutmeg

Prunum prunum - Plum Marginella

Tegula viridula - The species is not included in this book, and most books don't give common names.  However, "viridula" is derived from the Latin "viridis", meaning "green" or "greenish", and "ula" is a diminutive suffix, so "viridula" means "little greenish".  Therefore, based on the scientific name, a reasonable common name would be "Little Greenish Top Shell".

Olivancillaria gibbosa - Gibbous Olive Shell

Is Viviparus malleatus the chinese mystery snail or trapdoor snail? - Yes
Is Achatina fulica the giant african land snail? - Yes
Is Nassarius luridus the dog whelk? - "Dog Whelk" and "Nassa" are names applied to the family Nassariidae in general, so this species might be called "Lurid Dog Whelk" or "Lurid Nassa".  However, the name "Dog Whelk" is also used for some species in the family Muricidae, genus Nucella - another example of the unreliability of common names.

Incidentally, your photos are superb!