Creatures in Crisis
Photograph of Archachatina bicarinata (Archachatina bicarinata), recorded as Endangered
Archachatina bicarinata (Archachatina bicarinata). Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Endangered

Archachatina bicarinata

Archachatina bicarinata

Archachatina bicarinata is a land snail in the family Achatinidae (order Stylommatophora), recorded as Endangered.

Status
Endangered
Scientific name
Archachatina bicarinata
Taxonomy
Gastropoda · Stylommatophora · Achatinidae · Archachatina

Appearance

The shell of A. Bicarinata can reach a length of 11.7–13.5 cm (4.6–5.3 in). This giant shell is always sinistral or reverse-coiled (hence the synonym A. Sinistrorsa).

Range and habitat

This species is endemic to São Tomé and Príncipe, off the west coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea. The Obô giant snail lives in the primary rainforest on the mountains. It suffers from habitat loss, the mass collection of the shells and harvesting the snails for food.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

Diet

Snails move on a single foot and feed with a rasping tongue. Island and spring species rarely recolonise once the site is emptied.

In crisis

Archachatina bicarinata is 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 Archachatina bicarinata, Wikidata item Q307604. 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.

Photograph via Wikimedia Commons. Wikipedia · Wikidata · IUCN Red List.

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Quick answers

What is Archachatina bicarinata?
Archachatina bicarinata is a land snail in the family Achatinidae (order Stylommatophora).
What is the conservation status of Archachatina bicarinata?
Endangered, as the IUCN category stored on Wikidata for Archachatina bicarinata. Confirm the official assessment on iucnredlist.org.
Where does Archachatina bicarinata live?
Formerly occurring throughout much of Principe, it is now only found in an area of some 46 km2 in the protected forests in the south of the island.
Why is Archachatina bicarinata in crisis?
It is Endangered on Wikidata. Read the official Red List assessment for the criteria.
Is this the IUCN Red List page for Archachatina bicarinata?
No. This is a researched catalog account. The Red List is the assessment.
Is Archachatina bicarinata a pet?
An animal on this catalog is in crisis in the wild. Keeping one is usually the wrong question.