Biology:Gudeoconcha

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Short description: Genus of land snails

Gudeoconcha
Gudeoconcha sophiae 2.jpg
Gudeoconcha sophiae - juvenile snail
Scientific classification edit
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Heterobranchia
Order: Stylommatophora
Infraorder: Limacoidei
Superfamily: Helicarionoidea
Family: Helicarionidae
Genus: Gudeoconcha
Iredale, 1944[1]
Species:
G. sophiae
Binomial name
Gudeoconcha sophiae
(Reeve, 1854)
Synonyms
  • Helix sophiae Reeve, 1854

Gudeoconcha is a genus of glass snails that is endemic to Australia ’s Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea. The single species is G. sophiae (Reeve, 1854). It has four subspecies, only two of which are extant:[2]

  • G. s. sophiae (Reeve, 1854), also known as the Lord Howe Island glass snail
  • G. s. magnifica Iredale, 1944, also known as the magnificent glass snail or magnificent helicarionid land snail. It is Australia's largest helicarionid snail and is listed as Critically Endangered under Australia's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.[2]
  • G. s. conica (Brazier, 1889) (extinct – described from Blackburn Island and last collected in 1912)
  • G. s. intermedia Hyman & Ponder, 2016 (Pleistocene subfossil)
Shell from above
Shell from below

Description

The shell of adult snails is 14.4–21.4 mm in height, with a diameter of 24.4–38.4 mm, depressedly turbinate with an angular whorl profile, sculptured with microscopic grooves and radial growth lines. It is yellowish-brown in colouration. The umbilicus is closed by reflection of the columella. The aperture is ovately lunate. The animal is yellow-brown to dark brown with spots on the side of the tail, dark bands on the neck and a small caudal horn.[2]

Distribution and habitat

The snails are found in leaf litter throughout the island, with the nominate subspecies in the lowlands and C. s. magnifica on the summits and upper slopes of the southern mountains.[2]

References

  1. Iredale, Tom (1944). "The land Mollusca of Lord Howe Island". Australian Zoologist 10 (3): 299–334. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 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. 

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