''Paryphanta'' is a genus of

land snail A land snail is any of the numerous species of snail that live on land, as opposed to the sea snails and freshwater snails. ''Land snail'' is the common name for terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells (those without shells are known as ...

s in the family Rhytididae. Species from New Zealand are known commonly as kauri snails (

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

: ''pūpūrangi''). They are closely related and similar to snails in the genus '' Powelliphanta'', which was formerly included within ''Paryphanta''. There are just two species of ''Paryphanta:'' ''

Paryphanta busbyi ''Paryphanta busbyi'' is a species of large predatory land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Rhytididae. Distribution The distribution of ''Paryphanta busbyi'' includes the Northern parts of North Island, New Zea ...

'' and ''

Paryphanta watti ''Paryphanta watti'' is a species of large predatory land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Rhytididae. Distribution This species occurs in New Zealand Description The width of the shell is up to 49.6-61.2 ...

,'' which occur from North Cape to West Auckland.Kauri Snails.

Department of Conservation (New Zealand) The Department of Conservation (DOC; Māori: ''Te Papa Atawhai'') is the public service department of New Zealand charged with the conservation of New Zealand's natural and historical heritage. An advisory body, the New Zealand Conservation Au ...

. ''P. watti'' occurs only at the extreme northern end of this range near Kaeo. This form is of much darker coloration and often smaller, although does reach the same size as ''P. busbyi'' if allowed to reach old age.

See also

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