Powelliphanta hochstetteri obscura

Taxobox
name = "Powelliphanta hochstetteri obscura"


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. hochstetteri"
subspecies = "P. hochstetteri obscura"
trinomial = "Powelliphanta hochstetteri obscura"
trinomial_authority = (Beutler, 1901)

"Powelliphanta hochstetteri obscura", 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 in the western Marlborough Sounds including D'urville Island, at the north of the South Island.

hell description

The shell coloration is greenish-brown to yellowish-olive, spirally lined in brown, on the dorsal surface, but the base, including the umbilicus, is uniformly dark brown to almost black. Occasionally the outer edge of the basal zone is broken up into several spiral bands.

The diameter of the shell is up to 70 mm, and height up to 39 mm.

Conservation status

"Powelliphanta hochstetteri obscura" is classified by the New Zealand Department of Conservation as being in "Gradual Decline".

References

* Powell A. W. B., "New Zealand Mollusca", William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1
* [http://www.doc.govt.nz/templates/MultipageDocumentPage.aspx?id=39593 New Zealand Department of Conservation Threatened Species Classification]