Pseudocharopa whiteleggei, also known as Whitelegge's pinwheel snail or Whitelegge's land snail, is a species of pinwheel snail that is endemic to Australia's Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea. [1] It is the largest charopid species in Australia.[2]
Pseudocharopa whiteleggei | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
Order: | Stylommatophora |
Family: | Charopidae |
Genus: | Pseudocharopa |
Species: | P. whiteleggei
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Binomial name | |
Pseudocharopa whiteleggei (Brazier, 1889)
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Location of Lord Howe Island | |
Synonyms | |
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Description
editThe ear-shaped shell of mature snails is 7.1–8.3 mm in height, with a diameter of 15.6–17.7 mm, discoidal with a flat spire and impressed sutures. It is dark reddish-brown with indistinct zigzag, cream-coloured flammulations (flame-like markings). The umbilicus is moderately wide. The ovately lunate aperture is flattened on the upper edge. The animal has a lime-green sole and dark grey upper body, neck, head and eye-tentacles.[2]
Habitat
editThe snail is known mainly from the summits and upper slopes of Mount Lidgbird and Mount Gower, living in rainforest leaf litter.[2]
Conservation
editThe snail has been subject to predation by introduced rodents and is considered to be Critically Endangered.[2]
References
edit- ^ MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Pseudocharopa whiteleggei (Brazier, 1889). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1150009 on 2021-07-20
- ^ a b c d Hyman, Isabel; Köhler, Frank (2020). A Field Guide to the Land Snails of Lord Howe Island. Sydney: Australian Museum. ISBN 978-0-9750476-8-2.
External links
edit- Brazier, J. (1889). Mollusca. In: Etheridge, R (ed.) The general zoology of Lord Howe Island; containing also an account of the collections made by the Australian Museum Collecting Party, Aug.–Sept., 1887, pp. 22-30. Memoirs of the Australian Museum. 2: 1-42
- Iredale, T. (1944). The land Mollusca of Lord Howe Island. The Australian Zoologist. 10(3): 299-334
- "Pseudocharopa whiteleggei (Brazier, 1889)". MolluscaBase. Flanders Marine Institute. 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-16.