Powelliphanta hochstetteri

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.

Distribution

This species is endemic to the Marlborough and Nelson provinces of the South Island of New Zealand. There are five subspecies:

• 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

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. The specific name hochstetteri is in honor of Ferdinand von Hochstetter.

Life cycle

The shape of the eggs is oval and they are seldom constant in dimensions: 12 by 10 millimetres (0.47 in × 0.39 in).

References

1. Powelliphanta
2. Powelliphanta hochstetteri anatokiensis
3. Powelliphanta hochstetteri obscura
4. Powelliphanta hochstetteri bicolor
5. Powelliphanta hochstetteri consobrina
6. Rhytididae
7. Ferdinand von Hochstetter
8. Paryphanta busbyi
9. List of non-marine molluscs of New Zealand
10. Brook Waimārama Sanctuary
11. Ring species
12. Sodium fluoroacetate
13. Island gigantism
14. Kahurangi National Park