''Latia climoi'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of small freshwater snail or limpet, an aquatic gastropod mollusc in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Latiidae ''Latia'' is a genus of very small, air-breathing freshwater snails or limpets, aquatic pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Chilinoidea. ''Latia'' is the only genus in the family Latiidae. Species in this genus are the only ...

. It is the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of sever ...

of its genus. There is no fossil record of this species, genus, or family, so there is currently not enough information available to be able to understand its exact evolutionary origins.

Distribution

This species is

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 else ...

to the North Island of

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 ...

. The

was collected from the Hutt River near

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

. It is not clear from available sources whether this species is found anywhere else in New Zealand.

Habitat

This freshwater limpet is found on the underside of stones in clean-running streams and rivers.

Life habits

These animals have a pallial lung, as do all pulmonate snails, but they also have a false gill or "pseudobranch". This serves as a

gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

as, in their non-tidal habitat, these limpets never reach the surface for air. When disturbed, the animal releases a bright green, light-emitting cloud. This is a unique bioluminescence system, but although being studied since 1880, the exact mechanism is still unclear. These limpets feed upon the surface film covering the rocks on which they live, consisting of

alga Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometr ...

and

fungus A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from t ...

. Little else is known about their biology.

References

* Powell A. W. B., ''New Zealand Mollusca'', William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 *
New Zealand Mollusca
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3075368 Latiidae Gastropods of New Zealand Gastropods described in 1986 Freshwater molluscs of Oceania