Powelliphanta gilliesi gilliesi

Taxobox
name = "Powelliphanta gilliesi gilliesi"


image_caption = A "Powelliphanta" of unknown species.
image_width = 250
status =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Mollusca
classis = Gastropoda
ordo = Pulmonata
familia = Rhytididae
genus = "Powelliphanta"
species = "P. gilliesi"
subspecies = "P. gilliesi gilliesi"
trinomial = "Powelliphanta gilliesi gilliesi"
trinomial_authority = E. A. Smith, 1880

"Powelliphanta gilliesi gilliesi", known as one of the amber snails, is a subspecies of large, carnivorous land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Rhytididae.

Distribution

This subspecies is endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. It is found only on the northern part of the Wakamarama Range in West Nelson, from near sea level to 2,000 ft.

hell description

The shell has a depressed shape due to the relatively low height of the whorls, and there is a distinctly granulated parietal callus.

The coloration of the dorsal surface is dull brownish, crossed by numerous darker brown and reddish-brown spiral lines. The ventral surface is glossy, outwardly bright red-brown, but most of the base is occupied by a dark-brown, almost black, central zone, with a clearly defined outer edge.

The major diameter is up to 48 mm, and height up to 24 mm.

References

* Powell A. W. B., "New Zealand Mollusca", William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1