Climocella rata
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| Climocella rata | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Holotype from the Auckland War Memorial Museum | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Order: | Stylommatophora |
| Superfamily: | Punctoidea |
| Family: | Charopidae |
| Genus: | Climocella |
| Species: | C. rata |
| Binomial name | |
| Climocella rata Goulstone, 1996 | |
Climocella rata is a species of land snail belonging to the family Charopidae.[1] Endemic to New Zealand, the species is found in the Auckland and Waikato Regions, often in northern rātā leaf litter.
C. rata has a shell that measures up to 3 mm (0.12 in) by 1.8 mm (0.071 in), with a subdiscoidal shell of 3.75 whorls, and a protoconch of 1.5 whorls with 9-10 spiral lirae. It has a flat spire, and broad indistinct brown bands against a light brown background. The animal has a broad area of black pigmentation. The species can be identified due to its shell colour, flat to slightly depressed spire, and black pigmentation of the pallial cavity roof.[2]
Taxonomy
The species was first described by James Frederick Goulstone in 1995, who named the species after the northern rātā, a prominent tree at the species' type locality in the Hunua Ranges.[2] Goulstone collected the holotype of the species from the upper Whakatīwai Regional Park in the Hunua Ranges at a height of approximately 160 m (520 ft) above sea-level on 11 May 1995, which is held by the Auckland War Memorial Museum.[3][4][2]
Ecology
The species is often found in northern rātā leaf litter, and occasionally in Astelia leaf litter.[2]
