Gudeoconcha is a genus of glass snails that is endemic to Australia’s Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea. The single species is G. sophiae (Reeve, 1854). It has four subspecies, two of which are extinct:[2]

Gudeoconcha
Gudeoconcha sophiae - juvenile snail
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Stylommatophora
Infraorder: Limacoidei
Superfamily: Helicarionoidea
Family: Helicarionidae
Genus: Gudeoconcha
Iredale, 1944[1]
Species:
G. sophiae
Binomial name
Gudeoconcha sophiae
(Reeve, 1854)
Synonyms
  • Helix sophiae Reeve, 1854
Shell from above
Shell from below

Description

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The shell of adult snails is 14.4–21.4 mm in height, with a diameter of 24.4–38.4 mm, depressedly turbinate with an angular whorl profile, sculptured with microscopic grooves and radial growth lines. It is yellowish-brown in colouration. The umbilicus is closed by reflection of the columella. The aperture is ovately lunate. The animal is yellow-brown to dark brown with spots on the side of the tail, dark bands on the neck and a small caudal horn.[2]

Distribution and habitat

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The snails are found in leaf litter throughout the island, with the nominate subspecies in the lowlands and C. s. magnifica on the summits and upper slopes of the southern mountains.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Iredale, Tom (1944). "The land Mollusca of Lord Howe Island". Australian Zoologist. 10 (3): 299–334.
  2. ^ a b c d 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.