Endangered
Lutilodix imitratrix
Lutilodix imitratrix
Lutilodix imitratrix is a land snail in the family Microcystidae (order Stylommatophora), recorded as Endangered.
Appearance
The shell is small, measuring 5.6–6.8 mm in width and 4.9–6.0 mm in height, with 6.0–6.5 whorls. It is dark golden brown to chocolate brown with cream flammulations, conical in shape with a domed, strongly raised spire and apex. The animal is grey with a white sole.
Range and habitat
This species is endemic to Norfolk Island, a volcanic island situated approximately 1,500 km from the Australian mainland and 1,000 km from New Zealand in the South Pacific Ocean. As of the most recent surveys, the species is known only from a single population in Selwyn Reserve, where it inhabits remnant subtropical rainforest and shelters under logs and palm fronds in leaf litter. Fanulena imitatrix, called the Norfolk Island hairy snail, is a air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Microcystidae.
It is the type species of the genus Fanulena and is endemic to Norfolk Island. It is one of three Norfolk Island land snail species identified as being at highest risk of extinction.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Breeding
Like all Norfolk Island microcystids, F. Imitatrix gives birth to live young.
In crisis
In response to the critical status of F. Imitatrix and two other threatened species, an alliance of Parks Australia, Norfolk Island Regional Council, Taronga Conservation Society Australia and the Australian Museum Research Institute was formed in 2020 to implement conservation interventions. Future conservation plans include the possibility of establishing an ex-situ breeding population of F. Imitatrix at Taronga Zoo, building on the successful captive breeding programme already developed for A. Campbellii. A related species, the Campbell's keeled glass-snail (A. Campbellii), has been the subject of a successful captive breeding and reintroduction programme, with over 300 individuals released into Norfolk Island National Park in 2025.
Lutilodix imitratrix 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 Lutilodix imitratrix, Wikidata item Q4861777. 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.
