Achatinella
| Oʻahu tree snail | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Achatinella bulimoides | |
 |
|
| Achatinella lila | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): | clade Heterobranchia clade Euthyneura clade Panpulmonata clade Eupulmonata clade Stylommatophora clade Orthurethra |
| Superfamily: | Achatinelloidea |
| Family: | Achatinellidae |
| Subfamily: | Achatinellinae |
| Genus: |
Achatinella Swainson, 1828 |
| Diversity | |
| 41 species, 9 extant species remained in 2014 |
|
9 extant species remained in 2014
Oʻahu tree snails, genus Achatinella, form a large genus of colorful, tropical, tree-living, air-breathing, land snails, arboreal pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Achatinellidae.
This genus of tree snails is endemic to Hawaii, and all extant species are endangered. They were once abundant, and were mentioned extensively in Hawaiian folklore and songs, and their shells were used in lei and other ornaments.
Many of these arboreal snails are or left-handed in their spiral shell coiling, whereas most gastropod shells are . (See the section on chirality in the article gastropod shell.)
There are 41 species of Oʻahu tree snail endemic to Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. All are endangered, there being only about hundred individuals of each species left.
All 41 species are listed under United States federal legislation as endangered. The IUCN lists a number of these species as extinct and the remainder as critically endangered. In many cases the introduced and highly predatory snail Euglandina rosea has been involved in the extinctions and declines of the native tree snails.
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Wikipedia