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Amastra elliptica

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Amastra elliptica
Shells of Amastra elliptica
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Stylommatophora
Family: Amastridae
Genus: Amastra
Species:
A. elliptica
Binomial name
Amastra elliptica
Gulick, 1873
Synonyms
  • Amastra (Amastrella) elliptica E. A. C. M. Cooke, 1908 alternative representation

Amastra elliptica is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Amastridae.[1]

Description

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The length of the shell attains 15 mm, its diameter 8.5 mm

The shell is dextral, ovate, and slightly glossy, with faint growth lines. It contains 5½, convex whorls with the first 4½ brownish-corneous and the body whorl paler. The shell is partially covered with a dark olivaceous epidermis, worn in places at the front of the body whorl. The spire is somewhat turreted, with a simple suture. The aperture is white, occasionally tinged rose-pink at the front, and sometimes entirely white. The peristome is thin and only slightly thickened internally. The columella is gracefully arcuate, with the lip-ends connected by a thin callus and bearing a compressed, subbasal tooth

Amastra elliptica is distinguished from Amastra decorticata and its allies by the well-developed outer epidermal layer. On the anterior surface of the body whorl, the epidermis is light olive-brown with numerous uneven blackish streaks. On the posterior surface, these streaks merge to form a more or less continuous black area covering approximately the last quarter of the body whorl. The underlying cuticle, visible near the aperture where the outer layer has worn away, is pale yellow. In dead specimens where the entire cuticle has eroded, the spire appears reddish, while the last whorl is white. [2]

Distribution

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This species is endemic to Hawaii, occurring on Oahu island.

References

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  1. ^ Amastra elliptica Gulick, 1873. 17 December 2024. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species.
  2. ^ Hyatt, A. & Pilsbry, H. A. (1910–1911). Manual of conchology, structural and systematic, with illustrations of the species. Ser. 2, Pulmonata. Vol. 21: Achatinellidae (Amastrinae). Philadelphia: Conchological Department, Academy of Natural Sciences. p. 240. Retrieved 3 December 2024.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  • Cowie, R. H., Evenhuis, N. L. & Christensen, C. C. (1995). Catalog of the native land and freshwater molluscs of the Hawaiian Islands. Leiden: Backhuys Publishers. p. 106.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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