Powelliphanta gilliesi

Powelliphanta gilliesi
Holotype of Powelliphanta gilliesi fallax from the Auckland War Memorial Museum
Conservation status
Data Deficient  (IUCN 2.3)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Order:	Stylommatophora
Family:	Rhytididae
Genus:	Powelliphanta
Species:	P. gilliesi
Binomial name
Powelliphanta gilliesi E. A. Smith, 1880
Synonyms
Paryphanta gilliesi Smith, 1880

Powelliphanta gilliesi, one of the "amber snails", is a species of large, carnivorous land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Rhytididae.

Distribution

This species is endemic to the West Nelson area of the South Island of New Zealand.

There are nine subspecies,^[2] some of which are listed by the New Zealand Department of Conservation:^[3]

• Powelliphanta gilliesi aurea Powell, 1946
• Powelliphanta gilliesi brunnea Powell, 1938
• Powelliphanta gilliesi compta Powell, 1930 – Nationally Vulnerable
• Powelliphanta gilliesi fallax Powell, 1930 – National Decline
• Powelliphanta gilliesi gilliesi Smith, 1880
• Powelliphanta gilliesi jamesoni Powell, 1936
• Powelliphanta gilliesi kahurangica Powell, 1936
• Powelliphanta gilliesi montana Powell, 1936
• Powelliphanta gilliesi subfusca Powell, 1930 – Gradual Decline

Life cycle

The eggs of this species are oval in shape and are seldom constant in dimensions, varying from 9 by 8 millimetres (0.35 in × 0.31 in), to 9.75 by 8 millimetres (0.384 in × 0.315 in), and 10 by 8 millimetres (0.39 in × 0.31 in).^[4]

References

1. Mollusc Specialist Group (1996). "Paryphanta gilliesi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1996: e.T16402A5702524. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T16402A5702524.en. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
2. Powell A. W. B., New Zealand Mollusca, William Collins Publishers Ltd., Auckland, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1
3. "New Zealand Threat Classification System lists - 2002 - Terrestial [sic] invertebrate - part one". New Zealand Department of Conservation. 2002. Retrieved March 3, 2010.
4. 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.