Powelliphanta "Egmont"

Taxobox
name = "Powelliphanta" "Egmont"


image_caption = A "Powelliphanta" of unknown species.
image_width = 250
status =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Mollusca
classis = Gastropoda
ordo = Pulmonata
familia = Rhytididae
genus = "Powelliphanta"
species = Not yet described

This is a yet-unnamed "Powelliphanta" species, provisionally known as "Powelliphanta" "Egmont". This is one of the amber snails. It is an undescribed species of large, carnivorous land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Rhytididae.

Distribution

The species is endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. It is found only in one area of about 30 ha on the northwestern flanks of Mount Taranaki in Egmont National Park at an altitude of about 1,200 m.

The shell is coloured old gold, with a few purple-brown, narrow lines spiralling round the circumference of the shell, and the off-white parietal callus is smooth.

The shell diameter is up to 68 mm, and the height is up to 30 mm.

Conservation status

The only known colony has an estimated 900 snails, and the population density is low.

"Powelliphanta" "Egmont" is classified as "Range Restricted" by the New Zealand Threat Classification System.

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]
* [http://www.doc.govt.nz/upload/documents/science-and-technical/tsrp49b.pdf Department of Conservation Recovery Plans]