Powelliphanta hochstetteri, known as one of the amber snails, is a species of large, carnivorous land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Rhytididae.
| Powelliphanta hochstetteri | |
|---|---|
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| Powelliphanta hochstetteri, Rameka Track, Golden Bay | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Order: | Stylommatophora |
| Family: | Rhytididae |
| Genus: | Powelliphanta |
| Species: | P. hochstetteri
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| Binomial name | |
| Powelliphanta hochstetteri | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Helix Hochstetteri Pfeiffer, 1862 | |
Distribution
editThis species is endemic to the Marlborough and Nelson provinces of the South Island of New Zealand. There are five subspecies:[2]
- Powelliphanta hochstetteri anatokiensis Powell, 1938
- Powelliphanta hochstetteri bicolor Powell, 1930
- Powelliphanta hochstetteri consobrina Powell, 1936
- Powelliphanta hochstetteri hochstetteri (Pfeiffer, 1862)
- Powelliphanta hochstetteri obscura Beutler, 1901
Description
edit
Powelliphanta hochstetteri was originally described under the name Helix hochstetteri by German malacologist Ludwig Karl Georg Pfeiffer in 1862. He described it according to the shell only, which geologist German Ferdinand von Hochstetter had brought from the New Zealand.[1] The specific name hochstetteri is in honor of Ferdinand von Hochstetter.
Life cycle
editThe shape of the eggs is oval and they are seldom constant in dimensions: 12 by 10 millimetres (0.47 in × 0.39 in).[3]
References
edit- ^ a b (in German) Pfeiffer L. K. G. (1862) "Diagnosen einiger Landschnecken von Neuseeland". Malakozoologische Blätter 8: 146-150.
- ^ Powell A. W. B., New Zealand Mollusca, William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1
- ^ O'Connor A. C. (June) 1945. Notes on the Eggs of New Zealand Paryphantidae, With Description of a New Subgenus. Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand, volume 5, 1945-46, pages 54-57.
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