Samoan Diastole Snail (Diastole schmeltziana)
This very variable species, which was described in the year 1865, occurs on all of the Samoan islands and seems to be a rather arboreal species.
The shell of this species reaches about 0,7 cm in diameter.
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The individuals from Savai’i and Ta’u are taller than those from the other islands, and thus were originally described as a distinct form (var. usurpata (Mousson)).
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References:
[1] H. Burrington Baker: Zonitid Snails from Pacific Islands – Part 1.1. Southern genera of Microcystinae. Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin 158: 1-102. 1938
[2] Robert Cowie; Rebecca J. Rundell; Falaniko Mika; Pasia Setu: The endangered partulid snail Samoana thurstoni (Cooke and Crampton, 1930) on Olosega and the land snail diversity of the Manu’a Islands, American Samoa. American Malacological Bulletin 17(1/2): 37-43. 2002
[3] Robert H. Cowie; A. C. Robinson: The decline of native Pacific island faunas: changes in status of the land snails of Samoa through the 20th century. Biological Conservation 110: 55-65. 2003
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Depiction from: ‘Albert Mousson: Faune malacologique terrestre et fluviatile des îles Samoa, publiée d’après les envois de M. le Dr E. Graeffe. Journal de Conchyliologie 17: 323-390. 1869’
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