''Powelliphanta spedeni'', known as one of the amber snails, is a species of large, carnivorous

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 ...

, a terrestrial

pulmonate Pulmonata or pulmonates, is an informal group (previously an order, and before that a subclass) of snails and slugs characterized by the ability to breathe air, by virtue of having a pallial lung instead of a gill, or gills. The group includ ...

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...

in the family Rhytididae.

Distribution

This species is endemic to the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

of New Zealand. There are two

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

: Powell A. W. B., ''New Zealand Mollusca'', William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 * ''Powelliphanta spedeni spedeni''

Powell Powell may refer to: People * Powell (surname) * Powell (given name) * Powell baronets, several baronetcies *Colonel Powell (disambiguation), several military officers *General Powell (disambiguation), several military leaders *Governor Powell (di ...

, 1932 * '' Powelliphanta spedeni lateumbilicata''

, 1946

Description

The shell of ''Powelliphanta spedeni'' reaches a maximum size of 40 mm. O'Connor A. C. (June) 1945. ''Notes on the Eggs of New Zealand Paryphantidae, With Description of a New Subgenus.'' Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand, volume 75, 1945-46, page
54
57. Powelliphanta_spedeni

Life cycle

''Powelliphanta spedeni'' produces an egg up to the size of 11.5 mm. Shape of the eggs is oval and seldom constant in dimensions 11.5 × 9 mm, 11 × 9 mm, 9 × 7.75 mm. Its eggs are laid in March.

References

Powelliphanta Gastropods described in 1932 Taxa named by Arthur William Baden Powell Endemic fauna of New Zealand Endemic molluscs of New Zealand {{Rhytididae-stub