Powelliphanta "Baton"

Taxobox
name = "Powelliphanta" sp. from the Baton River


image_caption = A "Powelliphanta" of unknown species.
image_width = 250
status = CR
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" sp. from the Baton River. 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

This unnamed snail is endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. It is found only at the headwaters of the Baton River in the Kahurangi National Park in the north west of the South Island.

hell description

The shiny shell has a rounded bulbous appearance and a raised apex. It is a warm mid-brown to tan colour, with a few, very sparse, narrow reddish axial streaks. The colour of the mantle and mucous is faint blue, unlike the transparent appearance in most other "Powelliphanta".

The shell diameter is up to 39 mm, and height up to 19 mm.

Conservation status

"Powelliphanta" sp. from the Baton River is classified as "Nationally Critical" by the New Zealand Department of Conservation.

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]