Wainuia urnula

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wainuia urnula

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Order:	Pulmonata
Family:	Rhytididae
Genus:	Wainuia
Species:	W. urnula

Binomial name

Wainuia urnula
Powell, 1930

Wainuia urnula is a species of air-breathing predatory land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Rhytididae.

[edit] Distribution

This land snail is endemic to the South Island of New Zealand.

[edit] Subspecies

There are two subspecies:

Wainuia urnula urnula (Pfeiffer, 1855)

This subspecies lives under loose damp leaf litter in beech, rimu, rata, kanuka and hinau and mixed forest, as well as under dead tree fern fronds and stable moist rock piles, from Wellington, New Zealand north to Lake Waikaremoana, in the North Island of New Zealand.

These snails are preyed upon by introduced rats, possums and hedgehogs, but they seem to be able to cope well with habitat disturbance.

Wainuia urnula nasuta Powell, 1946

This subspecies lives under damp leaf litter in kamahi and mixed forest, as well as under dead flax leaves and stable moist rock piles, from the north of the South Island of New Zealand, including D'urville Island.

These snails are also preyed upon by introduced mammal pests, and they now only survive in isolated pockets, particularly rock piles, which give protection against a large range of predators.

It is classified by the New Zealand Department of Conservation as being in Gradual Decline.