New Zealand flax snail

New Zealand flax snail
New Zealand flax snail
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Heterobranchia

clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Eupulmonata
clade Stylommatophora
informal group Sigmurethra

Superfamily: Orthalicoidea
Family: Placostylidae
Genus: Placostylus
Species: P. bollonsi
Binomial name
Placostylus bollonsi
Suter, 1908

The New Zealand flax snail or pupuharakeke, scientific name Placostylus bollonsi, is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Placostylidae, according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda (Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).

This species is endemic to the Three Kings Islands group off the northern tip of New Zealand's North Island.

Subspecies

A number of subspecies are recognised; Placostylus bollonsi arbutus and P. b. bollonsi are classified by the New Zealand Department of Conservation as being Nationally Endangered, while Placostylus bollonsi caperatus is classified as Nationally Critical.[2]

Buckley et al. (2011)[3] found based on molecular phylogeny research and shell morphology research, that there are no susbspecies of Placostylus bollonsi.[3]

References

  1. ^ G. Sherley (1996). "Placostylus bollonsi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/17445. Retrieved March 3, 2010. 
  2. ^ "New Zealand Threat Classification System lists - 2002 - Terrestial (sic) invertebrate - part one". New Zealand Department of Conservation. 2002. http://www.doc.govt.nz/templates/MultipageDocumentPage.aspx?id=39593. Retrieved March 3, 2010. 
  3. ^ a b Buckley T. R., Stringer I., Gleeson D., Howitt R., Attanayake D., Parrish R., Sherley G. & Rohan M. (2011). "A revision of the New Zealand Placostylus land snails using mitochondrial DNA and shell morphometric analyses, with implications for conservation". New Zealand Journal of Zoology 38(1): 55-81. doi:10.1080/03014223.2010.527997.