Laoma marina
| Laoma marina | |
|---|---|
| Type specimen | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Order: | Stylommatophora |
| Family: | Punctidae |
| Subfamily: | Laominae |
| Genus: | Laoma |
| Species: | L. marina
|
| Binomial name | |
| Laoma marina (F. W. Hutton, 1883)
| |
| Synonyms[1][2] | |
| |
Laoma marina is a species of land snail belonging to the family Punctidae.[1] First described in 1883, the species is endemic to New Zealand.
Description
In the original description, Hutton described the species as follows:
Pale yellow, faintly marked with chestnut; spire conoidal, rather obtuse; suture margined; sub-perforate; a columellar plait, and two parietal plaits, none of which are on the basal margin; diameter 0.13 in (3.3 mm).[3]
The species has a small shell with 4.25 whorls, measuring 2 mm (0.079 in) in width and 1.38 mm (0.054 in) in height. The shell is trochiform, carinated, very narrowly umbilicated and thin. The suture is margined and impressed, and the species has a conic spire, equal to the height of the aperture. The protoconch has 1.5 whorls, and is sculptures with 15 or more narrowly-spaced fine spiral lirae.[2]
The species can be distinguished from other members of Laoma due to having a larger shell, fewer apertural lamellae, weaker shell sculpture, weaker carina, and small or obsolete umbilicus.[2]
Taxonomy
The species was described by Frederick Hutton in 1883, under the name Endodonta marina.[3] In 1891, the species was moved to Phrixgnathus (Laoma) by Henry Suter, and in the same publication synonymised Laoma nerissa with L. marina, believing this was a juvenile form of L. marina.[4][5] In the following year, Henry Augustus Pilsbry raised Laoma to genus level,[6] making the currently accepted name of the species Laoma marina. It was redescribed in 2019, after L. nerissa was reinstated.[2]
Distribution and habitat
L. marina is endemic to New Zealand, occurring between in Auckland, the Coromandel Peninsula, northwards to the Hokianga Harbour, the Waikato, Wellington Region, and the upper South Island.[2][7] The species tends to live in forest floor leaf litter, such as in fallen nīkau palm fronds.[8]
References
- ^ a b Laoma marina (F. W. Hutton, 1883). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 6 November 2025.
- ^ a b c d e Climo, Frank; Mahlfeld, Karin; Payton, Ian; Roscoe, David (2019). "Description of Laoma ordishi new species (Eupulmonata: Punctidae) and reinstatement of Laoma nerissa (Hutton, 1883)". Papahou: Records of the Auckland Museum. 54: 63–80. doi:10.32912/RAM.2019.54.4. ISSN 1174-9202. JSTOR 26850637. Wikidata Q104814755.
- ^ a b Hutton, F.W. (1883). "Notes on some New Zealand land shells". New Zealand Journal of Science. 1 (10): 476 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- ^ Suter, H. (1891). "Art. XIX.—Contributions to the Molluscan Fauna of New Zealand". Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 24: 270-278 – via Papers Past.
- ^ Suter, H. (1891). "Art. XXII.—Miscellaneous Communications on New Zealand Land and Fresh-water Mollusca". Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 24: 283-286 – via Papers Past.
- ^ Pilsbry, Henry A. (1892). Manual of conchology, structural and systematic: with illustrations of the species. Second series, Pulmonata. Vol. 8. p. 57. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.6534 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- ^ "Laoma marina (Hutton, 1883)". New Zealand Mollusca. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
- ^ Barker, Gary M. (2005). "The character of the New Zealand land snail fauna and communities: some evolutionary and ecological perspectives". Records of the Western Australian Museum, supplement. 68 (1): 53. doi:10.18195/ISSN.0313-122X.68.2005.053-102. ISSN 0313-122X. Wikidata Q106728496.
Further reading
- Powell, A. W. B. (1979). New Zealand Mollusca. Auckland, New Zealand: William Collins Publishers Ltd. p. 325. ISBN 0-00-216906-1.
- Suter, H. (1892). "On the dentition of some New Zealand land and fresh-water Mollusca, with descriptions of new species". Transactions of the New Zealand Institute. 24: 298.