Critically Endangered
Achatinella mustelina
Achatinella mustelina
Achatinella mustelina is a land snail in the family Achatinellidae (order Stylommatophora), recorded as Critically Endangered.
Appearance
Achatinella mustelina from different locations vary in size, shape, and color. The shells have a shiny finish and are usually brown with light bands that circle the suture convex, or they are white with transverse black or brown lines.
Adults range from 19 to 24 mm (0.75 to 0.94 in) in length, with an average length of 21.4 mm (0.84 in).
Range and habitat
Achatinella mustelina can be found in elevated forests that are dry, wet, or mesic. Achatinella mustelina attaches itself to leaves at the tops of native trees and shrubs such as Metrosideros polymorpha, Dubautia plantanginea, Myrsine lessertiana, Antidesma platyphyllum and Nestegis sandwicensis. The range of temperature Achatinella mustelina typical live in is 20 degrees Celsius during the day and 16 degrees Celsius at night.
This species is endemic to the Waianae Range of the island of Oahu, Hawaii.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Breeding
Achatinella mustelina can self-fertilize because this reproductive strategy is driven by low population densities, reducing the likelihood of finding a mate. Self-fertilization ensures reproductive success in the face of limited mate availability.
Achatinella mustelina breeds year-round.
In crisis
Achatinella mustelina are rapidly becoming extinct. There are many threats to this species, largely invasive predatory species. Achatinella is a highly diverse group, comprising 41 described species, but only nine species remain today.
Trioceros jacksonii xantholophus and Euglandina rosea are two invasive predatory species that are largely contributing to Achatinella mustelina's population decline. Euglandina rosea are predatory snails found in similar habitats to Achatinella mustelina.
CITES lists this taxon on Appendix I. Confirm the current appendix on the CITES checklist.
Achatinella mustelina is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Achatinella mustelina, Wikidata item Q309198. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
