Placostylus ambagiosus


Placostylus ambagiosus is a species of flax snail, a large air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Bothriembryontidae.

Description

This snail has a large shell, which is heavily calcified. Placostylus ambagiosus is highly valued by Te Aupōuri me Ngāti Kurī as a food source, musical instrument and in the past this snail provided alarm calls at night warning of approaching invaders.

Distribution

This land snail species occurs in New Zealand. It is restricted to a small fragmented area of Northland Region, including the Aupouri Peninsula and Motuopao Island.

Biology

This snail feeds on fallen leaves on the forest floor. A favorite plant species is hangehange. Placostylus ambagiosus needs year round moisture provided by deep leaf-litter. The species is slow-growing with a lifespan of 10-22 years and strong site fidelity The same individual snail has been found under the same food plant for 12 years

Hypothetical subspecies

In 2011, Buckley et al. established, based on molecular phylogeny research and shell morphology research, that there are in fact no subspecies of Placostylus ambagiosus.
However, in the past, what were thought to be eight extant subspecies and a number of undescribed but distinct populations were named; 6 of these "subspecies" are now extinct ; conservation statuses were given according to the New Zealand Threat Classification System for the extant taxa: "nationally critical" and "nationally endangered":