Powelliphanta lignaria lignaria

Taxobox
name = "Powelliphanta lignaria lignaria"


image_caption = A "Powelliphanta" of unknown species.
image_width = 250
status = VU
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Mollusca
classis = Gastropoda
ordo = Pulmonata
familia = Rhytididae
genus = "Powelliphanta"
species = "P. lignaria"
subspecies = "P. lignaria lignaria"
trinomial = "Powelliphanta lignaria lignaria"
trinomial_authority = Powell, 1946

"Powelliphanta lignaria lignaria", 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 only found on the west of the South Island between the Mokihinui River northward to The Bluff, at altitudes up to at least 1,500 ft.

hell description

The shell of this species has very distinctive coloration. There are numerous dark reddish-brown axial stripes on a yellowish-olive ground, and with a smooth bluish-grey parietal callus.

The shell diameter is up to 65 mm, and the height is up to 38 mm.

Conservation status

"Powelliphanta lignaria lignaria" is classified by the New Zealand Department of Conservation as being "Nationally Vulnerable".

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]