''Catapyrgus sororius'' is a critically endangered species of fresh water snail

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Habitat

This snail has only been found in one location, a stream in the Ida Cave in the Oparara River Valley in the

Kahurangi National Park Kahurangi National Park in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand is the second largest of the thirteen national parks of New Zealand. It was gazetted in 1996 and covers , ranging to near Golden Bay in the north. Much of what was the ...

. This area is a protected forest reserve managed by the

Department of Conservation An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...

. Although the population trend of this species is regarded as being stable, the main threats to this snail are pollution events in the stream it inhabits and caving activities.

Conservation status

In November 2018 the Department of Conservation classified ''Catapyrgus sororius'' as Nationally Critical under the

New Zealand Threat Classification System The New Zealand Threat Classification System is used by the Department of Conservation to assess conservation priorities of species in New Zealand. The system was developed because the IUCN Red List, a similar conservation status system, had some ...

. The species was judged as meeting the criteria for Nationally Critical threat status as a result of it occupying only in one location, the total area of which is less than 1 hectare. It is considered as being Data Poor under that system.

References

External links

Image of the holotype specimen held at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
{{Taxonbar, from=Q20085784 Gastropods described in 2008 Gastropods of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand Endangered biota of New Zealand Endemic molluscs of New Zealand