Howearion belli

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Howearion belli
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Heterobranchia
Order: Stylommatophora
Superfamily: Helicarionoidea
Family: Helicarionidae
Genus: Howearion
Species:
H. belli
Binomial name
Howearion belli
Location of Lord Howe Island

Howearion belli, also known as the beautiful semislug, is a species of semislug that is endemic to Australia's Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea.[2]

Description[edit]

The shell of the mature animal is 6.5–8.1 mm in height, with a diameter of 13–16.6 mm, ear-shaped with rounded, rapidly expanding whorls, and with flattened spire and apex. It is smooth, glossy and deep golden-brown in colouration. The umbilicus is closed. The aperture is ovately lunate. The animal is cream, brown, or reddish-brown, with darker brown stripes and spots and tiny white flecks.[2]

Distribution and habitat[edit]

The semislug occurs on the summits and upper slopes of the southern mountains of the island, where it is found in leaf litter, usually dead palm fronds, and sometimes in living trees.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Iredale, Tom (1944). "The land Mollusca of Lord Howe Island". Australian Zoologist. 10 (3): 299–334.
  2. ^ a b c Hyman, Isabel; Köhler, Frank (2020). A Field Guide to the Land Snails of Lord Howe Island. Sydney: Australian Museum. ISBN 978-0-9750476-8-2.